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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/niagarabookOOhowe 




Photograph by Harlan H. B03 ce. 
A NOVEL VIEW OF THE HORSESHOE. 



The Niagara Book 



BY 

W. D. HowELLs, Mark Twain, 
Prof. Nathaniel S. Shaler, and Others 

NEW AND revised EDITION 
With Remarkable Photographic Illustrations 




New York 

Doubleday, Page & Co. 

1901 



THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two Copies Received 

APR. 25 190t 

COPVRt«HT ENTRY 

CLASS (X/ XXc, 

7^97 

COPY B. 



N*. 



. ,,^JV 



COPYRIGHT, 1893 
BY UNDERHILL & NICHOLS 

COPYRIGHT, I9OI 
BY IRVING S. UNDERHILL 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



as:) 



Many of the illustrations in this book are 
from photographs taken by amateurs. For 
the use of the others we are indebted to the 
courtesy of Messrs. Nielson, Arnold, Curtis, 
Koonz and Zyback cr' Co. In every case the 
name of the photographer is given. 



CONTENTS. 
Part I. 

Page 
What to See. Frederic A buy, A.M 3 

Dramatic Incidents. Orrin E. Dunlap 59 

Historic Niagara. Hon. Peter A. Porter .... 90 

The Geology of Niagara Falls, Prof. N. S. Shaler. 123 

The Flora and Fauna of Niagara Falls. Hon. 

David F. Day 158 

Utilization of Niagara's Power. Coleman Sellers, 

E.D., Sc.D., etc 178 

Part II. 

The First Authentic Mention of Niagara Falls. 

Mark Twain ,....215 

Niagara, First and Last. William D. Howells . . 236 

As It Rushes By. Edward S. Martin 270 

Famous Visitors at Niagara 'Falls. Rev. Thomas 

R. Slicer 278 

Part III. 

Buffalo and the Pan American Exposition, . . 315 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

A NOVEL VIEW OF THE HORSESHOE . . . Frontispiece 

Facing Page 

ENTRANCE TO THE CAVE OF THE WINDS lO 

THE HORSESHOE FROM THE MAID OF THE MIST . . 22 

THE THREE SISTER ISLANDS 34 

QUEENSTON AND LEWISTON. — END OF THE GORGE . 42 

PROSPECT POINT 50 

SEARCHLIGHT IN THE GORGE 59 

SPELTERINA 70 

BLONDIN 70 

searchlight in the gorge 84 

the american fall from goat island .... qo 

devil's hole 104 

a panorama of niagara iio 

the maid of the mist ii9 

bird's-eye view OF NIAGARA RIVER 122 

MAP OF LAKE IROQUOIS I29 

THE ICE PALACE 132 

HYPOTHETIC HYDROGRAPHY AT A DATE BEFORE THE 

MELTING OF THE GREAT GLACIER FROM THE ST. 

LAWRENCE VALLEY 1 34 

HYPOTHETIC HYDROGRAPHY AT A DATE AFTER THE 

MELTING OF THE GREAT GLACIER FROM THE ST. 

LAWRENCE VALLEY . . - 137 

BIRD'S-EYE view of THE NIAGARA GORGE .... I44 



LIST OF ILL USTRA TIONS. 

Facing Page 

THE soldiers' MONUMENT I50 

SECTION OF NIAGARA FALLS, SHOWING THE ARRANGE- 
MENT OF HARD AND SOFT STRATA, AND ILLUS- 
TRATING A THEORY OF THE PROCESS OF EROSION I52 

SPRINGTIME AT NIAGARA I58 

AMERICAN RAPIDS ABOVE GOAT ISLAND BRIDGE . . 168 

THE GORGE ROAD I78 

THE GORGE NEAR LEWISTON 178 

POWER HOUSE — EXTERIOR 188 

POWER HOUSE — INTERIOR 188 

A bird's-eye view FROM THE TOWER ..... I96 

THE AMERICAN FALL FROM BELOW . . . . - . . . 206 

ROCK OF AGES AND CAVE OF THE WINDS .... 2l6 

THE HORSESHOE FALL AT SUNSET 226 

THE WHIRLPOOL RAPIDS 236 

LUNA ISLAND IN WINTER 244 

THE "maid of the MIST " 254 

THE BREAKING OF THE ICE BRIDGE 267 

THE ICE BRIDGE 267 

THE CAVE OF THE WINDS IN WINTER 274 

MOONLIGHT 284 

THE WHIRLPOOL 294 

THE ICE MOUNTAIN 3O4 

PLAN OF THE CITY OF BUFFALO ........ 316 

NIAGARA FALLS AND VICINITY 33 1 

PLAN OF THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION .... 340 

THE STADIUM 342 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

PART I. 

What to See. Frederic Almy, A.M. 

Dramatic Incidents. Orrin E. Dunlap. 

Historic Niagara. Hon. Peter A. Porter. 

The Geology of Niagara Falls. Prof. N. S. Shaler. 
The Flora and Fauna of Niagara Falls. 

Hon. David F. Day. 
Utilization of Niagara's Power, 

Coleman Sellers, E.D,, Sc.D., etc. 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

PART I. 
WHAT TO SEE. 

By Frederic Almy, A.M. 

A CONSECUTIVE DESCRIPTION FOR VISITORS. 

I. The Cave of the Winds. 
II. The Maid of the Mist. 

III. Queen Victoria Park ; the Horseshoe Fall ; the 

Dufferin Islands. 

IV. The American Rapids ; Prospect Park ; Goat 

Island ; Luna Island ; the Three Sisters. 

V. Lower Niagara : The Whirlpool Rapids ; the 

Whirlpool ; the Gorge Road to Lewiston and 
Oueenston ; Brock's Monument ; Niagara on 
the Lake, and Youngstown. 

VI. Seasons and Moods : The Ice Bridge ; Tramps, 

Strolls, and Resting Places ; the Bicycler. 
VII. Programmes for One Day at Niagara. 
VIII. Statistics. ' 

3 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 



I. 



THE CAVE OF THE WINDS. 

The most greedy imagination need not 
remain long hungry at Niagara. One well- 
used day, with a sun bright enough to start 
the rainbows^ can satisfy every expectation; 
and yet, many who see the Falls for the first 
time are disappointed. There are various rea- 
sons for so general an experience, but no one 
of them implies any short-coming in the place. 
A rather stolid mind takes in such a sight 
slowly, and one look does not quicken it, 
while a more sensitive temperament is apt to 
come to Niagara with such composite antici- 
pations that no single aspect of the place could 
satisfy them all. 

If you are easily moved it may be that a 
tremor of excitement will take possession of 
your senses as you approach Niagara for the 
first time, and so subdue your judgment that 
you will have no power to criticise ; but, on the 
other hand, no matter how callous you may be, 
no matter how utter a Philistine, it is possible 
4 



WHAT TO SEE. 

for you to be so introduced that you will be 
made an instantaneous convert to the majesty 
of the place if not to its beauty. If you are 
willing to take the climax of Niagara at the 
outset and so forestall every possibility of dis- 
appointment, you will do well, without the 
least preliminary glance of any kind, to enter 
the watery chaos of the Cave of the Winds. 

Cross the stone bridge that leads to Goat 
Island, with the rapids of the American Fall 
slipping furiously under you as they fall from 
the sky line at the left ; with the brink itself a 
few rods below you on the right, so that you 
see the plunge, but not the fall; with the 
roar of the torrent in your ears and the 
musty smell of the roily water in your nos- 
trils; and finalty, before you in the distance, 
rising over the tree tops of Goat Island, the 
pillar of cloud by day that guards the Horse- 
shoe. If it is very early morning in midsum- 
mer, and the wind is favorable, a rainbow, 
zenith high, will overarch the scene, but this is 
hardly needed to quicken the pulses of your 
heart as you advance to meet the wonder of 
your thoughts from early childhood. Take 
now the middle path across the idyllic beauty 
5 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

of the island. You^find it a cool bower, sweet 
with every wood fragrance, carpeted in the 
spring with masses of blue violets and white 
trillium, and overspread by branches of huge 
trees whose leaves sift out the sunlight until 
it falls in patches only on the road below. It 
is a place in which to " loaf and invite the 
soul," as Whitman says, but now is not the 
time. Five minutes brings you to the dressing 
house that marks the entrance to the Cave of 
the Winds. Here it will take a strong will not 
to look down over the hand rail on the bank ; 
but the epicure in sensations will refrain. In- 
deed, to look now is to spoil everything, and 
to accept for your first view of Niagara one of 
the least imposing. Instead, step quickly into 
the house, pay your dollar for the necessary 
escort of a guide, strip to the skin with no 
thought of retaining even your underclothes, 
and put on the homely and uncomfortable but 
eminently practical suit that is offered you. A 
blouse and trousers of a light gray flannel, a 
hooded coat and overalls of yellow oilskin, and 
slippers made out of a sheet of thick white felt 
folded around the foot and firmly tied in place 
with strips of whip-cord — arrayed in these you 



WHAT TO 8EE. 

are in full court costume, ready to be presented 
to Majesty. 

To reach the cave you circle down the cliff 
by an uncomfortable, small, winding staircase, 
of a sort familiar to sight-seers abroad. From 
this you presently emerge, out of breath, upon 
a ledge of rock, with the dark green waters of 
the river below and a vertical wall of granite 
towering above. 

A mere score of steps brings you around 
a curve and puts before your sight the enor- 
mous sheet of water, vast in itself, but at Ni- 
agara insignificant and inconspicuous, which 
curtains the Cave of the Winds. About 
one hundred and fifty feet in height, and as 
much in breadth, it descends between Goat 
Island and Luna Island. It has no special 
name, and the ordinary visitor to Niagara will 
hardly realize its separate existence. Our 
English cousins who do not go behind it may 
respect it more if they are told that it leaves 
the sky at the height of the top of the western 
towers of Canterbury or of Durham Cathe- 
dral, and that it has twice the width of the 
main fagade of either. If they have ever been 
behind they will need no details to ensure re- 
7 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

spect. We see it first in profile, a long, curv- 
ing edge of green and white, not so much fall- 
ing from the brink above as leaping, with a 
forward plunge, so that between its inner wall 
and the retreating surface of the cliff is left a 
strange gray cavern, now to be explored. 

I have been through the cave more than a 
score of times, but no number of trips can 
ever dull or in any degree displace in my mind 
the impressions of the first visit. In quiet ig- 
norance of what was to come, I approached 
the precipitous wooden staircase which de- 
scends behind the fall. Looking across I saw 
a patch of blue sky at the farther outlet of the 
cave, but elsewhere the air was dark with 
criss-crossed blasts of sleet, hurtling in all di- 
rections like frightened comets. A second 
later the battery of the fall was on my head 
and all the Powers of the Air were at my 
throat. Around my feet a rainbow formed a 
ring through whicH I seemed to drop into 
blackness. The staircase stopped and I was 
on a narrow ledge of rock, with no more path 
or rail, hugging a slippery wall of stone. The 
water clutched my feet furiously. Neither the 
burly guide nor the stranger who had accom- 



WHAT TO SEE. 

panied me was to be seen. I started to go 
forward, but as I turned a mass of water 
struck me breathless. I tried to find the stairs, 
but a worse dash of water from the other side 
outdid the first. Facing the wah again I 
waited, perhaps thirty seconds, wondering, 
when suddenly the guide appeared with the 
frightened Frenchman whom he had pursued 
and recaptured. It was a lonesome introduc- 
tion to the place, but we moved on now to- 
gether through the water, clinging desperately 
with our toes through the felt to whatever 
foothold we could discover, and glad to have 
the support of hands as well as feet. Dignity 
in such a place, and such a costume, is the last 
thing to be considered. Half blinded, quite 
deafened, gasping — the agitation of the nerves 
is too great at first for observation ; but soon 
the eye learns how to follow the curving inner 
surface of the falHng water, half translucent 
and of shifting colors, far up to where it leaves 
the line of the cliff above. It learns to over- 
come the twilight and gather outlines of black, 
terraced rocks, dripping with streams of sleet, 
that form the amphitheatre of the cave. You 
learn to step fearlessly into the churning 
9 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

water, towards the Fall, knowing that the re- 
bound of the cataract is so violent that even if 
you lost your footing you would only bie 
thrust roughly back against the terraces. It 
is soon over. A brief climb up the ledges 
brings you to dry rock and the bright sun 
again, but you have seen a cave of ^olus such 
as Virgil never dreamed of. Henceforth the 
lines in the opening pages of the ^neid : 

Hie vasto rex ^olus antro 
Luctantes ventos vinclis et carcere frenat, 

will have new meaning. 

A clever writer once said that the cave was 
like a small choky corridor with the deluge 
going on inside it, and he marvelled greatly 
that the end of his trip coincided with the 
point of departure instead of occurring in 
transitu. It is alarming but not dangerous, 
and accidents are almost unheard of. Women 
frequently go through the cave as well as men. 

There is no surer way to take the conceit 
out of a complacent cockney who affects to 
look down on Niagara than to make him run 
this gauntlet. I think always of Emerson's 
lines on Monadnoc : 




Photograph by Edmund R. Hardy. 
ENTRANCE TO THE CAVE OF THE WINDS. 



WHAT TO SEE. 

Pants up hither the spruce clerk 
From South Cove and City Wharf, 
I take him up my rugged sides, 
Half repentant, scant of breath, — 

I scowl on him with my cloud, 
With my north wind chill his blood ; 
I lame him clattering down the rocks ; 
And to live he is in fear. 
Then, at last, I let him down 
Once more into his dapper town, 
To chatter, frightened, to his clan 
And forget me if he can. 

The passage through the cave is an experi- 
ence too grim and colorless for pure pleasure, 
but the return across the rocks in front of the 
fall — in a bright sun — is a luxury of delight. 
The heart that " leaps up when it beholds a 
rainbow in the sky " will here be in a dancing 
fever of excitement, for there are whole rain- 
bows, half rainbows, and quarter rainbows, 
not in the sky, distant and inaccessible, but in 
your fingers, around your head, and between 
your feet, while the pot of gold at the rain- 
bow's foot is a caldron of molten silver, foam- 
ing and rushing about your knees, and tug- 
ging at you with an invitation that is irresis- 
ji 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

tible. I have seen grave men frolic in the 
water, their trousers and sleeves swelled al- 
most to bursting with the imprisoned air; now 
clinching their toes firmly in some crevice 
and leaning back with all their force against 
the cushion of water that rocked them like a 
cradle; now crouching low with arms akimbo 
while the interrupted stream sprang high 
above their heads in an arching curve, like a 
sea shell around a naiad; now thrusting them- 
selves into invisibility against some rock over 
which the torrent broke in a noisy cascade — 
their heads safe in the airhole near the crest, 
from which they dimly watched the passing 
figures in their oilskins, until they chose to 
startle them by reappearing. To play so with 
Niagara brings an exhilaration that is inde- 
scribable. It " washes brain and heart clean " 
and gives a child's courage for the tasks of the 
world. The exaltation is heightened by the 
heavy roar of the cataract close above you, and 
the brilliant beauty of color all around you. 
You climb through one circular rainbow to 
the top of a black boulder and descend 
through another on the other side ; you cross 
slippery wooden bridges, exposed to such furi- 

12 



WHAT TO SEE. 

ous castigation from the sleet that you bend 
involuntarily in homage to the fearful power of 
your recent playfellow. Most glorious of all, 
whenever for a moment the eye is not so buf- 
feted by driving spray as to deprive you en- 
tirely of your vision, look upwards, always up- 
wards — where the flashing peaks of the Amer- 
ican Fall tower above the deluge like the 
snowy summits of a mountain chain. 

In such access of mind, in such high hour 
Of visitation from the living God, 
Thought is not, in enjoyment it expires, — 
Rapt into still communion that transcends 
The imperfect offices of prayer and praise. 



II. 



THE MAID OF THE MIST. 

Everywhere at Niagara the genius of the 
place has many moods. Often at the Cave of 
the Winds there is not a rainbow; sometimes 
when the spray beats down the river you can 
even enter the cave without a wetting. It 
may take twenty trips to see all its splendor, 
but fully to see it is worth them all. I know of 
13 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

nothing in Nature to be compared with it. 
The valley of the Rhone Glacier at dusk, when 
the white frozen mass of ice falls silently at 
your feet from the- sky, suggests it dimly, as 
the moon in daylight suggests the sun. For 
many, though, the pleasures of the cave are 
too robust. All such should still attempt to 
see Niagara first from below, and the next best 
way is from one of the twin steamers called the 
Maid of the Mist. 

The approach is through Prospect Park, 
and by taking the central path to the mclined 
railway you can again reach the water's edge 
without so much as one glimpse of the Fall. 
As you come out of the house at the foot of 
the railway there is a territory at the left, full 
of attractions, but your way lies to the right. 
From the steamer landing you see a broad 
river of a dark green color, as placid and un- 
ruffled as if it had never known a struggle or 
a fall. Men swim in it with safety. Before 
you is the disappointing profile of the up- 
per half of the American Fall. The lower 
half is hid by rocks and spray. Slip on one 
of the rubber cloaks in the saloon, take a 

rubber -blanket, and rush forward to the 
14 



WHAT TO SEE. 

choice seats at the front. As the steamer 
moves sturdily forward, still through smooth 
green water, the air begins to fill with a soft 
spray, as fine and penetrating as a Scotch mist, 
and the water is thickly overlaid with foam. 
You coast along the one thousand and sixty 
feet of the American Fall, close to the rocks 
below and so very close to the Fall itself that 
it is almost terrifying. Nothing is distinctly 
seen, for the eyes blink in the beating rain. 
You can see better if you wear glasses; the 
wet dims them, but you can at least keep 
your eyes open more steadily. Nothing is 
distinctly heard. The deep note of Niagara 
sounds in your ears with a heavy throb that is 
almost painful. You are confronted by a rip- 
pling, flashing, shimmering wall of white, a 
precipice of falling foam, furrowed in deep 
creases by the uneven contour of the brink, 
and rebounding high in a leaping cloud of 
spray that always hides the base from every 
eye. Near the steamer are many boulders ; the 
largest the Rock of Ages that stands before 
the entrance to the Cave of the Winds. Then 
come the bare cliffs of Goat Island, another 
thousand feet or more ; and then — the Horse- 
15 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

shoe. Its lofty, curving walls confront each 
other, one hundred and sixty feet in height, 
and in their contour fully three thousand feet, 
or more than half a mile. The plucky Maid 
pushes straight into this pit of falling waters; 
forward she goes, into its depths, until for an 
instant, for one short second, there is nothing 
to the right, to the left, or before, nothing any- 
where in the whole world for you but the en- 
closing cataracts falling on all sides from the 
sky. It is just one second of crowded, glori- 
ous life, worth a year's pilgrimage. The little 
steamer has gone as far as the full force of her 
engines will carry her; she lurches heavily, 
tosses like a cork on the white surging foam, 
and wheels suddenly around. Then, gradu- 
ally, you realize that the climax is to be re- 
peated. Once more the Maid pushes stead- 
ily through the churning froth, straight for 
the vortex of the Horseshoe; once more the 
white cataracts surround you, and then the 
Maid gives up the hopeless struggle, wheels 
heavily again, and shoots like an arrow down 
the stream and away. 

The views now are from the stern; first of 

the rapidly receding Horseshoe, then of Goat 
i6 



WHAT TO SEE. 

Island, then of the American Fall as we coast 
again along its length, nearly as close as be- 
fore, and finally, from the Canadian dock, a 
beautiful panorama of both Falls. From here 
the boat returns to the American landing, but 
the tourist's best plan is to go ashore, take the 
inclined railway up the Canadian bank, or 
climb the winding road, and then walk or ride 
along the crest of the cliff to Inspiration Point 
and to the former site of Table Rock, 



III. 

CANADA THE HORSESHOE THE DUFFERINS. 

It is disappointing to the patriotic soul, but 
not to be disputed, that the finest views of 
Niagara are to be had on the Canadian side. 
Perhaps there is more variety of beauty in the 
American park than in the other; Goat Isl- 
and, the Three Sisters, Prospect Park, the 
Rapids, and the River Road are all exceed- 
ingly beautiful ; but when you have seen it all 
there is no place to which you come back so 
eagerly for inspiration as to Table Rock on 
the Canadian shore. 

2 17 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Queen Victoria Park. 

The Queen Victoria Park was established in 
1888, or three years after the State of New 
York had purchased Goat Island and the land 
on the American side, and dedicated it to its 
people. Here and there are trifling indica- 
tions of the different temper of the govern- 
ments on either bank. Take for instance the 
governmental signboards with their warning 
notices, which in Canada are less considerate 
of the tender feelings of the dear public than 
with us. Mark the autocratic barbarity of the 
British declaration that persons throwing 
stones over the bank will be prosecuted ac- 
cording to law, as compared with the exquisite 
delicacy of the placards that meet you at every 



turn on Goat Island 
Dangerous Places " 
Trees and Shrubs " 



" Do Not Venture in 
" Do Not Harm the 
" Stones Throzvn Over 



the Bank May Fall upon People Below.'' 

The Queen Victoria Park is much more 
trig than its neighbor. It has flower beds and 
close clipped lawns, rustic arbors, and wig- 
wams, busts of notables, and even fountains ! 
In the State Reservation, on the contrary, the 



WHAT TO SEE. 

more important portions are in a condition al- 
most primeval. 

It is well to remind the visitor that in dis- 
tributing his time the hours given to the Cana- 
dian park should be in the afternoon. At 
Niagara, Canada is the land of the setting sun, 
and it is only in the afternoon that the superb 
bows can be seen which rise high in the sky, 
sometimes over-arching both Falls in a single 
curve. It is the other shore which is distinctly 
Rainbow Land. Give only the sun, and on the 
American shore the wise pilgrim can have his 
rainbow, be it morning or be it afternoon. In 
the morning at Prospect Park, if the day is 
bright, one rainbow is certain, two are usual, 
and to see three concentric bows, each revers- 
ing the colors of its neighbor, is not uncom- 
mon. At the brink of the Horseshoe it is 
the same, while in the afternoon I know of no 
more beautiful sight at Niagara than the view 
of Luna Island and the great American Fall, 
framed by an iridescent bow. It is a spectacle 
not to be missed. 

Suppose, then, that it is the afternoon. You 
make your way along the Canadian shore to- 
wards Inspiration Point, and what we still call 
19 



THE NiAaARA BOOK. 

Table Rock, though the last vestige of the 
rock itself fell over forty years ago. You find 
at once that here the railroad has entered 
Paradise. The tracks of an electric road ac- 
company you all the way. It was built in 
1892, and runs along the whole Niagara gorge 
from Queenston, seven miles below, to the 
placid beauty of the Dufferin Islands, where 
iron railroad bridges now run side by side with 
all the older ones of inoffensive wood. The 
world must move. Electric cars run from 
The Hague to the bathing houses of Schev- 
eningen. They run even from Florence up 
to Fiesole, and how can Niagara be spared ! 
They are necessary and laudable, but as unat- 
tractive to the eye as the cheap books that 
have opened literature to the million. 

Below Inspiration Point the view may pos- 
sibly be disappointing, but from this point on 
it is difficult for one who knows the place to 
see how even a newcomer can fail to be most 
powerfully impressed, especially if the convic- 
tion of the height of Niagara has been first 
well driven home by a journey through the 
Cave or on the steamer. Still, a Bostonian 
looked first from here and promptly wished to 



WHAT TO SEE. 

improve on Nature by removing the barren 
wall of Goat Island, so that there should be 
one continuous fall. A more legitimate source 
of disappointment is due to the heavy spray. 
Over and over travellers brought with care to 
Table Rock for their first view, open their eyes 
to see only an invisible Niagara, both Ameri- 
can Fall and the Horseshoe being veiled com- 
pletely by a loud, thundering cloud of mist. 

The Horseshoe Fall. 

As you advance towards the Horseshoe, 
and see farther and farther into its white re- 
cesses, until, at Table Rock, you are admitted 
almost to the heart of its secrets, the sensation 
of awe in the presence of such majesty is ir- 
resistible. You stand at one limit of the vast 
curve. Your eye traverses the whole extent 
of the silent sheets of plunging water, and fol- 
lows them downward to the milky sea beneath. 
From below rise such enormous clouds of 
shifting spray that at times all outlines are 
confused. The vagueness magnifies each dis- 
tance, and through the blur the opposite crest 
seems infinitely far away, and the chasm bot- 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

tomless. The effect- is all of white and gray, 
and yet conspicuous before you is the great 
Green Water, the one place where the flood of 
Niagara does not break instantly into foam 
but clings together in a solid sheet that de- 
scends for many feet unbroken, exhibiting the 
exquisite color of the green deep sea. The 
water nearer is sometimes turbid and yellow. 
Everywhere its surface has a waxen, sheeny 
glaze that is characteristic of Niagara. At the 
convergence of the two opposite faces of the 
cataract the confusion of waters is indescriba- 
ble. Above all mounts the white column of 
spray that seems to 

"Rise like a cloud of incense from the earth." 

The man or woman here who does not de- 
scend to the foot of the precipice commits a sin 
unpardonable. Fear may forbid the Cave of 
the Winds, or even the Maid of the Mist, but 
here you have firm Mother-earth to stand on. 
If the whim of the wind allows you dry rocks 
you can lie at your ease in the sun and drink 
in almost the view which the prow of the 
steamer presents for a second and then 
snatches from you. You are in the same white 

22 




Photographs by Orrin E. Dunlap. 
THE HORSESHOE FROM THE MAID OF THE MIST. 



WHAT TO SEE. 

pit of downward rushing walls. You have al- 
most the same sense of having conquered the 
inaccessible, of having invaded sanctity. It is 
like the disembodied joys of spirits. 

Mr. Howells speaks in his book of the repose 
of Niagara. Another paradox is its silence. The 
sheets of falling water are so unchanging to 
the eye that the motion seems no more actual 
than when the breeze runs through a field of 
grain. It moves without moving. In some 
such way the unchanging volume of sound 
soon leaves on the ear a strange sense of si- 
lence. Now and again, however, as some more 
compact mass of water makes its fall, a new 
note strikes the ear, and under all is the heavy 
beating of the air as if of sound too low for 
the range of human hearing. It has always 
seemed to me as if much of the voice of Ni- 
agara might be to us inaudible.* 

It is strange that no great poem has yet 
been written for Niagara. Many have tried 
their hand, but there is nothing of established 
fame, nothing that is known for itself as well 

* In " Scribner's Magazine" for February, 1881, there is 
an article on " The Music of Niagara," by Eugene M. Thayer. 
He writes the chords of its different harmonies, but finds them 
four octaves lower than the keyboards of our pianos. 
23 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

as for its subject. There is line after line, how- 
ever, of Coleridge's Hymn to Mont Blanc 
which if once thought of at Niagara will be 
always thought of there. Verse after verse 
is curiously apposite. Those who have never 
made the translation from mountain to cata- 
ract will find in it a wealth of new associations 
for both poem and place. 

The waters at thy base 
Rave ceaselessly ; but thou, most awful Form, 
[Fallest] from forth thy silent sea of green, 
How silently 

dread and silent [Fall !] I gazed upon thee 
Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, 

Didst vanish from my thought. Entranced in prayer 

1 worshipped the Invisible alone. 

Yet like some sweet beguiling melody. 

So sweet we know not we are listening to it. 

Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my thought, — 

Yea, with my life and life's own secret joy — 

Till the dilating soul, enrapt, transfused, 

Into the mighty vision passing — there. 

As in her natural form, swelled vast to Heaven. 

Who gave you your invulnerable life. 
Your strength, your speed, your fury, and your joy, 
24 



WHAT TO SEE. 
Unceasing thunder and eternal foam ? 

Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven 
Beneath the keen full moon ? Who bade the sun 
Clothe you with rainbows ? Who, with living flowers 
Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet ? 
God ! — let the torrents, like a shout of nations. 
Answer ! and let the ice-plains echo, God ! 

T/ie Beautiful Dufferin Islands. 

The Titans of Niagara have been presented. 
They are grand, beautiful, but overpowering. 
The strain on the sensations is so exhausting 
that to stay long with them is oppressive, and 
after looking your fill you are glad to with- 
draw to the more human pleasures of the isl- 
ands. 

One of the delights of Niagara is the con- 
stant alternation of tumult and peace, of 
majesty and winsomeness. Willow Island and 
Goat Island are full of sweet wood charm. On 
Goat Island, especially, you can quite forget 
Niagara, although all the time its nearness in- 
duces an exaltation of spirit which enhances 
the restful beauty of the forest. 

The Dufferin Islands, on the Canadian 
25 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

shore a mile above the Horseshoe, have a 
unique quahty which cannot easily be stated. 
They are the perfection of rustic loveliness, 
and the approach is hardly less lovely. 

If you take the electric road, or even the 
carriageway, to the Dufferins, you will miss 
much beauty ; but the distance is more than a 
mile, so that it may be necessary. The foot- 
path is best^ for it follows the water's edge, 
climbing the slope of the rapids, a green bow- 
ered path, with the big, breezy river at the left. 
At intervals are rustic seats from which you 
can watch the turmoil so near you, and the in- 
tricate tossing of the breakers. 

Here, as everywhere at Niagara, a bicycle is 
the ideal vehicle. It lifts you from the earth, 
spiritually and physically; you have not the 
sight of the horses nor the noise of their hoofs 
to distract you ; and you can have the intimate 
beauty of the footpaths without the weariness 
of the magnificent distances. A bicycle day 
at Niagara is an unforgettable pleasure, and 
no part of it more so than the ride up the wind- 
ing path to the Dufiferins. 

Whether you approach by bicycle, by car- 
riage, or by trolley, you see little of the islands 
26 



WHAT TO SEE. 

unless you leave your vehicle and explore the 
narrow paths. 

First comes a swift river, about thirty feet 
wide, sweeping close against the hand-rail 
which guards the path. The river describes 
a semicircle, and the path by its side is at the 
base of steep, dense woods, and is so overhung 
with vines that you proceed through a succes- 
sion of pergolas. Here and there weeping 
willows whip the stream incessantly with their 
trailing branches. After this circuit, or before 
it, you must by no means fail to wander 
through the mazes of the islands themselves. 
Wherever you turn you will find a tangled 
cluster of wooded islands, carpeted with thin 
gray sheets of rushing water, clear as a trout 
stream. Plank walks carry you dry shod 
through many places where all the dense vege- 
tation springs not from earth, but from a film 
of swift, transparent water. This forest Ven- 
ice, with its lovers' walks, and bowers, and 
platforms, is indescribably fascinating. 

The Burning Spring. 

Those who have ample time will find it 
worth while to visit also the burning spring 
27 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

on the hill above, the Dufferins. You are 
shown into a darkened room, where an outlet 
of natural gas is lighted on payment of a fee, 
and the tossing of the great flames is pictur- 
esque and beautiful. ' 



IV. 



THE RAPIDS AND PROSPECT PARK GOAT ISL- 
AND, LUNA ISLAND, THE THREE SISTERS. 

It is late to speak of the famous rapids above 
the Goat Island bridge which, for many visit- 
ors, are the first thing seen at Niagara and the 
last forgotten. They do not equal the great 
rapids above the Whirlpool, seen from the 
Gorge Road, but they are a chief source of 
pleasure. To see them it is necessary, abso- 
lutely, to descend to one of the platforms at 
the river's edge. Unless you do so they have 
not been seen. Sit for at least ten minutes, 
watching, and the fascination will seize you 
irresistibly. It is like a great turmoil of tossing 
ostrich feathers, except that there is feverish 
life in these white plumes restlessly curling. 

There are tags of verse in the mind everywhere 
.28 



WHAT TO SEE. 

at Niagara. The one that speaks to me here is 
from Matthew Arnold : 

Now the wild white horses play, 
Champ and chafe and toss in the spray. 

And again : 

The wild white horses foam and fret, 
" Margaret ! Margaret ! " 

In sunshine these rapids blaze from a dis- 
tance like white fire and are intolerable to the 
eye. Although not so terrific as the lower 
rapids, they are perhaps as exciting because 
they are hastening towards doom instead of 
escaping from it. As we watch, the imagina- 
tion inevitably includes the shuddering leap 
into space. They race madly towards disaster, 
and as you follow you share their impatience. 
You walk close at the river's edge, unprotected 
from the contagion of its motion, until you 
reach the brink at Prospect Park, where only 
a low stone rampart separates you from the 
Fall. 

Prospect Park. 

This is generally the first view seen by 
visitors, but, though fine, it is not the best. 
29 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

The Falls are seen, in profile so that the line of 
their length is foreshortened, and the height 
seems much less than when seen from below. 
It is well to insist on seeing Niagara first from 
its base; what we look down on never seems 
so great as what we must look up to. 

The sight from Prospect Point is beautiful 
enough, however, and a favorite one to return 
to. If there is any sun there is always a rain- 
bow in the morning, and at any time the great 
mass of shifting spray which cushions the 
falling waters will hold the eye prisoner. It 
seems as if some vast sea monster would 
emerge from it, as in " Schiller's Diver." At 
night especially it is mysterious and awful. 

As you follow the rampart along the preci- 
pice the views change gradually. One of the 
best is labelled Father Hennepin's View. It is 
supposed to be the view seen in 1678 by Father 
Hennepin, a Jesuit missionary, and Chevalier 
de la Salle — the first white men who ever saw 
Niagara. The former writes of it as follows : 
" A vast and prodigious Cadence of Water 
which falls down after a surprising and aston- 
ishing manner, in so much that the Universe 
does not afford its parallel. . . . This 
30 



WHAT TO SEE. 

Wonderful Downfall is compounded of two 
cross streams of water, and two falls with an 
isle sloping along the middle of it. The waters 
which fall from this horrible precipice do foam 
and boyl after the most hideous manner imag- 
inable; making an outrageous Noise, more ter- 
rible than that of thunder; for when the wind 
blows out of the South their dismal roaring 
may be heard more than Fifteen Leagues off." 

Goat Island and Lima Island. 

Those who fear the trip on the Maid of the 
Mist can cross from here to the Canada shore 
by the bridge; or, if Goat Island is taken next, 
it is but a few rods back to the Goat Island 
bridge. As we cross we have a fine view of 
the hill of the rapids on the left, while on the 
right we see the brink of the Fall. The Ameri- 
can islands are anchored in the very centre of 
Niagara. First comes Bath Island, which is 
uninteresting, and then Goat Island itself, a fa- 
mous treasure-house of delights. There are no 
more lovely forest roads or paths in the world 
than those on Goat Island, and Asa Gray, the 
botanist, tells us that there is hardly another 
31 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

place in the world where so great a variety 
of trees and flowers can be found in so small an 
area. Goat Island is still covered with original 
forest, except for the carriageways and foot- 
paths that traverse it. That this is so is due 
no doubt to the fortunate fact that for genera- 
tions all the Niagara islands, as well as part of 
the mainland, were owned by the wealthy fam- 
ily of Gen. Peter B. Porter, well known in the 
War of 1812. A summer hotel on the bank of 
Goat Island, overlooking the Horseshoe, 
would have been a source of enormous profit, 
but the sanctity of the place was always re- 
spected. A pleasant story is told of one of 
the family who was asked in England if she 
had ever seen Niagara Falls. Drawing her- 
self up proudly, she quite annihilated her ques- 
tioner with the unexpected answer : " Niagara 
Falls ! I own them." 

You circle round Goat Island by a shady 
road with cool forest depths on one side and 
on the other a steep, wooded bank with 
glimpses of the river through the leaves. A 
flight of steps leads down to Luna Island, and 
from its landings affords the finest view that is 
to be had of the American Fall. If you study 
32 



WHAT TO SEE. 

it closely you will find that there are subtle 
harmonies in the color of Niagara as well as 
in its music. The Fall is by no means only 
gray and white. If the sun favors, you will 
find at times faint tints of lavender, of rose, and 
green. 

A low bridge leads directly over the roof of 
the Cave of the Winds to Luna Island. This 
bridge in winter is so thickly crusted with ice 
that as you cross your feet are almost level 
with the railing at the side. The island itself 
is so called from the lunar rainbow which is 
often seen from it in the spray — a mere dim 
ghost of a rainbow, hardly brighter than the 
third arch even of a solar bow. It is beautiful 
to see, but the beauty lies less in the bow itself 
than in its weird accompaniment of night shad- 
ows and moonlight. The island is small, and 
so flat upon the water that a trifle would sub- 
merge it. The shallow, transparent sheet of 
water that passes over the long, ragged edge of 
the American Fall is so near your feet that you 
can touch it as it leaves the brink. 

In fact, everywhere the great accessibility 
of Niagara is strongly felt. It never holds 
you at arm's length. As you look down at 

3 33 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the huge clouds of smoky vapor you lean over 
a low parapet of stone along which the river 
brushes as it makes the plunge; and if you 
continue now along the Goat Island road to 
the Horseshoe you can paddle in the water at 
the very verge. There is never the tantaliz- 
ing wish to get " a little nearer." Except for 
occasional dashes of spray, no monarch of Na- 
ture allows more absolute freedom of ap- 
proach. 

From Goat Island, the Horseshoe shows 
but one of its curving faces, but it is that which 
is crowned by the wonderful Green Water al- 
ready mentioned. It is better seen from the 
bank above than from below. The rich green 
mass descends unbroken until it is lost to sight 
behind the nearer curve of the Fall. You see 
no chasm; merely two edges with-a deep seam 
or scar between, broken at moments by a sud- 
den, spurting leap of spray from the invisible 
depths, a silent messenger of the tumult below. 

The Three Sister Islands. 

The road leaves the Horseshoe. A broad, 
breezy view fills the eye, and presently appear 
the bridges of the Three Sister Islands. The 

. 34 



WHAT TO SEE. 

first bridge crosses a thin stream of water, 
so quiet that one would hardly be afraid to 
wade to the other side. There is no suggestion 
of the rush and roar of Niagara. The second 
stream is much more turbulent. The third, 
narrow but noisy, comes racing down the slope 
with breathless speed, and crashes immediately 
over a low parapet of rock with an uproar as of 
forty Niagaras. It is so little and so furious 
that it frightens you. It shakes the water into 
shreds and tatters and flings it down in a 
tangled heap of white motion, to pass on in- 
stantly without reprieve to the new fate be- 
yond. It is like torture before death. A soft 
green dimple in the lower stream is all that 
marks the vortex of the Horseshoe into which 
the water plunges. 

The small bridge quivers with the rush of 
water so close below it. This bridge and Pros- 
pect Park are said to be the favorite resorts of 
men intent on suicide, but those who care for 
life can hardly find a dearer lingering spot for 
a long summer's day than at the foot of this 
small torrent. 

The Third Sister gives again the broad, free 
outlook on the river. Not far from the shore 

35 



THE NIAQARA BOOK. 

is the Spouting Rock, or Leaping Horse, 
where the water shoots up at intervals in a 
dash of spray. A little clambering over the 
gnarled rocks of the island brings you to the 
water's edge, where you can look up the cur- 
rent to the horizon. By springing over a nar- 
row gap you reach a boulder near the shore, 
on the farther side of which the water sweeps 
down a little glassy shoot shaped like a 
beaver's tail. Tiny white waves keep curling 
up it from below, trying to climb the slope. 
The pygmy army is unwearied in its attack, 
but, like Sisyphus, it toils upward in vain. 

The carriage road and footpath lead from 
the Sisters to the Parting of the Waters at the 
upper end of Goat Island, where the river 
divides its mass for either Fall very quietly, 
with only a light ripple on the shore ; and still 
farther is a glen known as " The Spring." 
Then come the bridges to the mainland, and 
the tour of Goat Island has been accomplished. 

If you wish to taste again the constant al- 
ternation between peace and conflict which 
makes Niagara so bewildering, walk up the 
water's edge to a willow grove which is idyllic 
in its beauty ; and if then you wish in full meas- 
36 



WHAT TO SEE. 

ure a benediction on your day, return to the 
hotel or train by the lovely River Road, which 
follows the bank in an easy curve that is a de- 
light to the senses. It is but a moment longer, 
and I know of nothing that will leave so sweet 
a flavor in the mind. 



V. 



LOWER NIAGARA. THE WHIRLPOOL RAPIDS 

THE WHIRLPOOL THE GORGE ROAD TO 

LEWISTON AND QUEENSTON BROCK's MON- 
UMENT, YOUNGSTOWN. 

All that has been described — Cave of the 
Winds, Maid of the Mist, Dufiferin Islands, and 
all — may be seen in a day by the abject slave to 
time. He will come away dazed, uncertain, 
almost, whether the cataract flows up or down, 
and unfit, utterly, to say a word in criticism, 
either of praise or blame. Still, if a day is all 
that life allows you, it is best to crowd it full. 
If not afraid of mental indigestion, the one-day 
tourist might make room in his day not only 
for all this, but for a glimpse, at least, of the 
wonderful Whirlpool Rapids. To see more 
37 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

than this of lower -Niagara, even in the most 
hasty fashion, a second day is indispensable, 
unless the Cave of the Winds, the Dufferins, or 
some other of the charms which surround the 
cataract, are sacrificed. 

On the American shore the Niagara gorge 
can be traversed in several ways. There are 
three railroad tracks, above, below, and mid- 
way. The carriage road above is too far back 
from the brink to afford views, but the trains 
of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg 
Railroad have some fine, distant outlooks. 
They are not specially arranged for sightseers, 
however, and are less desirable for scenic pur- 
poses than the trains of the New York Central, 
which carry open observation cars in summer 
through the gorge, from Niagara Falls to 
Lewiston. The tracks are half-way up the side 
of the clifT, and the ride is beautiful. The dis- 
tance is about seven miles. 

The Gorge Road. 

Most tourists will prefer the round trip on 
the electric road, which has the advantage of 
giving you both shores, one from above, the 
other from the water's edge. On the Cana- 

38 



WHAT TO SEE. 

dian side the only road is the trolley, on top of 
the bank. The round trip takes over two 
hours and is usually taken on the Canadian 
side first, because of the fine views as you de- 
scend the mountain, looking towards Lake 
Ontario. It is a trip on no account to be 
missed if you can afford the time. It is best, 
if possible, to make many stops at the different 
stations on the line, especially at the Whirl- 
pool Rapids. 

The Upper Whirlpool Rapids. 

These rapids, rather than the Whirlpool, are 
the feature of lower Niagara. They are wilder, 
finer, in every way more splendid than the 
rapids above the falls. On the Canadian side 
you descend by elevator to the rapids, but the 
American trolley road takes you directly by 
them. If you sit on the rocks, almost in the 
spray, you find a mass of roaring water, be- 
tween high walls of rock, that leaps incredibly 
into the air. At times it spurts almost like a 
geyser, and from the bank will even hide from 
sight a low house on the other shore. It is the 
most infernal riot of mad waves that the mind 
can picture. Like Hamlet's players, in the 
39 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

torrent, tempest, and whirlwind of their fury, 
they tear their passion to tatters, to very rags. 
They race past with a suicidal rage and vio- 
lence which is terrifying. The place is one to 
linger at for hours and is one of the chief glor- 
ies of the Falls. 

The Whirlpool. 

The Whirlpool also can be visited by those 
who have scant time, without taking the whole 
trip through the gorge. It is apt to disap- 
point the expectation, but all wish to see it. 
From the rapids, if you are adventurous, you 
can reach the Whirlpool by following the 
shore and climbing up the bank. If you are 
prudent, however, you will take the trolley or 
the carriage road. From above, as you look 
down over the bank, the first sensation is sur- 
prising, almost uncanny. Niagara is caught 
in a trap. It enters a circle without outlet. 
Your eye follows the whole contour and finds 
no interruption in the line of shore. From a 
few steps farther to the right you see below 
you the narrow gap through which the river 
turns, at a full right angle with its former 

course. It seems as if a girl could throw a 
40 



WHAT TO 8EE. 

Stone over, but men have tried and seen the 
stone land on the nearer shore, short even of 
the water's edge. 

Those who expect to find a maelstrom in the 
Pool will be ludicrously taken by surprise. A 
country millpond is hardly more serene. The 
water circles lazily around its pen as if indiffer- 
ent whether it escaped or not. Above the hole 
and below is the rattle of the rapids and the 
glitter of their white spray, but the Whirlpool 
itself is dark ind still. When the first disap- 
pointment is over at not seeing the boiling, 
riotous whirl of the railway posters, you realize 
a silent strength and majesty that grow awful. 
It is not so hard to believe that what is once 
drawn down into its centre will not emerge 
for days. 

To Q.ueenston and Lewiston. 

If you see only the Whirlpool Rapids and the 
Whirlpool you will get a good idea of the 
Niagara gorge, but the whole trip to Queens- 
ton and Lewiston should be taken if possible. 
The cars cross the bridge, a thread poised be- 
tween two panoramas. Under the bridge on 
the American side you can see the outlet of the 
41 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

power tunnel which is said to have " harnessed 
Niagara." The inlet of the tunnel is some dis- 
tance above the Falls, and the vast power sup- 
plied is used both in Niagara Falls and in 
Buffalo. 

From the Canadian end of the bridge the 
tracks keep close to the edge of the cliff so that 
you can look down at the green stream below; 
at times there are viaducts over deep gorges 
above the tree tops, and as you approach 
Brock's Monument and descend rapidly into 
the quaint little village of Queenston the view 
of Lake Ontario in the distance is superb. It 
is worth while to leave the car and enjoy the 
view until the next car arrives. 

After crossing from Queenston to Lewiston 
the cars return, following the edge of the 
stream. It is a dramatic, magnificent ride, but 
it passes too quickly for the fullest pleasure. 
No one should fail to get off and linger at the 
Upper Whirlpool Rapids. 

Niagara-on-the-Lake and Youngstown. Toronto. 

The beauty of the river continues all the way 
to its mouth at Lake Ontario. Niagara-on- 
42 




-; o 



Z J 



WHAT TO SEE. 

the-Lake and Youngstown are six miles below 
Queenston and Lewiston. There is an espe- 
cially good hotel at the former, but possibly 
Queenston is more picturesque and interest- 
ing. At both there are forts and military sta- 
tions, and the scarlet coats of the British sol- 
diers are seen at the Canadian post. Near 
Lake Ontario the river is no longer shut in a 
gorge, but is ample and splendid, with finely 
wooded banks and a carriage road on either 
side from which the views are ravishing. The 
road is sandy on the Youngstown side, but for 
pedestrians or bicyclers there are side paths 
close to the edge, and the trip is of unforget- 
table beauty. It is by no means inferior among 
Niagara's pleasures, and the visitor from in- 
land especially will enjoy the broad expanse of 
the waters of Ontario. Looking from the walls 
of Fort Niagara at Youngstown even the lover 
of the ocean will find nothing lacking. From 
either Youngstown or Niagara steamers can 
be taken for the trip across the lake to To- 
ronto. 



43 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 



VI. 



SEASONS AND MOODS THE ICE BRIDGE 

TRAMPS, STROLLS, AND RESTING PLACES 

THE BICYCLER. 

The perfect time for the trip to Lewiston is 
in October. The Canadian bank is then a 
blaze of flame, and the green river below and 
blue sky above make a beautiful color picture. 
The most lovely time for upper Niagara is in 
early spring, when Goat Island is covered with 
flowers and the trees show every tender shade 
of green. The most wonderful season is un- 
doubtedly mid-winter. 

Niagara in winter is like a fairy tale come 
true. The spray gathers and freezes so inces- 
santly that twigs the size of knitting needles 
are cased with ice until they have the bigness 
of a squirrel's tail. The trees seem all of ice, 
and their wood seems only a stick to which 
these ice trees are tied for support. Whole 
bushes are covered with a heavy splendor 
which, like heavy splendor elsewhere, pins 
them to the earth or even breaks them down. 
A low sun flashing through this ice turns it to 
44 



WHAT TO SEE. 

jewels. It is as if the rainbows of Niagara 
were flung before you in a tangled heap. In 
a light wind the rattle of the trees is most un- 
like the soft murmur of summer. It is rheu- 
matic and wheezy, like opulent old age, cov- 
ered with diamonds. 

There are huge icicles like stalactites on the 
cliflfs which rise from the river. Many of them 
are discolored and show strong tints of yellow 
and blue. 

Below the American Fall the ice cone gath- 
ers and grows to the height of seventy-five or 
even of a hundred feet. Men climb it with 
spiked shoes and coast fearlessly down. The 
freezing spray covers your hat with enamel 
and makes your overcoat a rigid board. 

The Ice Bridge. 

In most years a so-called ice bridge forms. 
A warm day melts the field of ice above the 
Falls. It crashes down and chokes together 
in the narrow gorge below, forming an ice floe 
like a bridge from shore to shore. This 
bridge becomes a second Ponte Vecchio. It 
is lined at once on either side by mushroom 
booths where peddlers sell their wares. They 

45 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

take your tintype, with Niagara for a back- 
ground, but those who lend themselves to such 
an insult to the place are usually satisfied to sit 
before a hideous pasteboard scene although 
Niagara itself is close at hand. The merchants 
deal in foreign liquor upon the doubtful inter- 
national line. 

The ice bridge in itself is only this, and those 
who expect an arching span will be disap- 
pointed. It is its association with the winter 
scenery, and the vantage ground it gives for 
novel points of view, that make it well worth 
seeing. In winter usually you miss the charm 
of lazy summer lingering, but on the ice 
bridge you change the fleeting views the Maid 
of the Mist affords for ones more at your ease. 
You walk sturdily where you will, and look till 
you are satisfied. The pleasure, too, is greater 
at the water's edge than on the deck of a 
steamer. For this reason in summer it is 
pleasantest to cross by a small rowboat that 
ferries passengers. 

Moods. 

It is not only the seasons that change the 
aspect of Niagara. In fact, it differs every day 
46 



WHAT TO SEE. 

in mood. You cannot go twice to the same 
place without seeing some new thing. One 
day you can cHmb higher than ever before 
upon the rocks at the base of Prospect Park 
until you sit dry in the shadow of the American 
Fall, fairly behind its sheet. Another day you 
cannot put your head outside of the house at 
the foot of the incliued railway without meet- 
ing a blinding shower of spray from the same 
Fall that makes any visit to the rocks impos- 
sible. These changes of the spray occur with 
disconcerting suddenness, especially below. 
The wind whips suddenly around the compass, 
and before you think, lashes the spray at your 
face. I have seen a girl who was standing too 
near the Fall drenched instantly with a rush of 
spray. Even when above a little wetting often 
comes. 

These are the natural aspects of Niagara. 
To see it in more unfamiliar, curious beauty, 
as only one in hundreds cares to do, walk by 
summer moonlight through the Lewiston 
gorge or see the Horseshoe by the winter 
moon. 



47 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Tramps, Resting Places — The Bicycler. 

To catalogue the pleasures of Niagara and 
not describe the rhany tramps it offers would 
be a mistake. The shortest and perhaps the 
best is down the gorge to Lewiston, about five 
miles, a pleasant journey for an afternoon. 
Begin not at Niagara, but at Suspension 
Bridge. Two miles of country road lead to 
the Devil's Hole, the scene in 1765 of a mas- 
sacre of English by the French and Indians 
who are said to have forced them down the 
cliff. Upon a broad plateau of rocks you look 
down on the tops of trees that fill the pit below. 
The rapids of the river spot its dark green sur- 
face with white, and their clamor is always in 
the air. A few steps farther on you leave the 
road, from which there are no views, and take 
the railroad track, a ledge half-way up the side 
of the cliff, with a sheer m^ountain of rocks 
above and the wonderful river talking loudly 
below. Keep on the track to Lewiston and 
then come back by train. 

If you have a whole day's time and can 
stand a more vigorous walk, begin on the 
Canadian side of the Suspension Bridge, walk 



WHAT TO SEE. 

by the road to the Whirlpool, crawl around its 
circling beach over ground thick with petrified 
leaves, and when you reach the outlet climb 
somehow up the bluff and keep to the brink 
until you reach Brock's Monument and 
Queenston. It is about seven miles, and if you 
are rowed across at the Queenston ferry and 
come back up the railroad track from Lewis- 
ton you will have had a glorious day. The 
walk along the Canadian brink is tangled and 
rough, and often lengthened by retreating 
gorges which have to be skirted, but the views 
are beautiful. There are many jutting bluffs, 
and in the gorges are fantastic boulders. Upon 
the hill below the monument to General Brock 
you look far off to Lake Ontario; it is another 
place for a day's resting. 

If you take this for an epilogue to Niagara 
you may like also a prologue. There is no 
pleasanter approach than to walk or drive 
from Buffalo on the Canadian shore. The dis- 
tance is not more than twenty miles and the 
road is almost always at the river's edge, al- 
most upon the beach. It is rough riding for 
a bicycle, but beautiful enough to repay much 
jolting. The advantage of this approach is its 

4 49 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

suddenness. Dur-ing the last miles of the 
journey you see the spray of Niagara before 
you, but you get no ghmpse of the cataract 
until, at the Horseshoe, the finest single view 
of Niagara is suddenly disclosed. 

On the American side you can go as far as 
Tonawanda by the tow path, which is beauti- 
ful but not smooth, and from there by cinder 
path to the Falls. 

Goat Island is a wheelman's paradise, and 
so is the bowered path to the Dufferins. From 
Lewiston or Queenston to Lake Ontario is 
also a fascinating trip by bicycle. You can 
ferry over at the river's mouth. Grand Island 
also has pleasant walks and bicycle rides, and 
if the trip to Niagara includes Buffalo, the city 
will be found to be practically all paved with 
asphalt and thronged with bicycles, even in 
its busiest downtown streets. 

If you want a place to which you can take 
a book for a long afternoon or morning, there 
is none more accessible or pleasanter than 
Willow Island, which is just above the Goat 
Island bridge on the mainland. Other resting 
places are the forest depths of Goat Island, the 
Second and Third Sister Islands, or the Duf- 
50 



WHAT TO SEE. 



ferins; and in lower Niagara the rocks by 
the Whirlpool Rapids, or the hillside below 
Brock's Monument. 



VII. 

To read too much of a place before seeing it 
is to prepare the way for disappointment. Un- 
consciously you expect to crowd into the first 
impression all the finest aspects of repeated 
visits made by others in their happiest moods. 
You are in danger, too, of displacing your own 
natural sensations by others ready made. A 
descriptive guide book stunts perception as 
often as it stimulates it. The purpose of this 
sketch lies in the hope that, just as a word may 
kindle memories and enrich itself in the mind 
of the hearer, these details may serve for a nu- 
cleus around which the scattering recollections 
of the place may gather more distinctly. 

One final word. If after all, with all the 
time you have, Niagara disappoints you, pray 
have the grace to remember that the fault may 
be your own. In a sense you can see in it only 
what you bring with you. As has been said, 

51 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

if no man is a hero to his valet it is not perhaps 
because the hero is no hero, but because the 
valet is only a valet. 



ONE DAY AT NIAGARA. 

Tourists may find these programmes for a 
single day serviceable : 

A. — Morning: Prospect Park; Maid of the 
Mist; Horseshoe; Dufferin Islands. 

Afternoon: Goat Island; Whirlpool Rapids 
or Cave of the Winds. 

In detail : From the train walk down Second Street 
to the river and follow the water's edge to the brink at 
Prospect Park {% mile) ; from there take the inclined 
railway to the foot of the Falls and cross to Cana'da by 
the Maid of the Mist (50 cents), or by the bridge (10 
cents), if you are timid. Walk to the Horseshoe (^ 
mile) ; walk or take the electric car to the Dufferin 
Islands, and walk among the islands ; return by car. In 
the afternoon walk or ride around Goat Island (2^ 
miles around) ; turn to the right after crossing the 
bridge from the mainland, and after reaching the Three 
Sister Islands return by wood path across the island. 
The Cave of the Winds ($1) is reached from Goat Isl- 
and ; the Whirlpool Rapids by electric car from Falls 
Street. 

52 



WHAT TO SEE. 

B. — Morning: Prospect Park; Maid of the 
Mist; Horseshoe; Goat Island. 

Afternoon: The Gorge Road, including 
Whirlpool Rapids and Whirlpool. 

In detail : The morning trip is described in A. For 
the Gorge Road, take the electric car over the bridge 
and down the Canadian bank to Oueenston, returning 
on American side (2}4. hours). Stop over at Whirlpool 
and Whirlpool Rapids on American side. 

c. — Morning: Cave of the Winds; Goat Isl- 
and; Prospect Park; Maid of the Mist, or 
bridge, to Canada; Horseshoe; Dufferin 
Islands. 

Afternoon: The Gorge Road, including 
Whirlpool Rapids and Whirlpool. 

It would be much better to divide this into two days ; 
or to omit the Gorge Road and take the Maid of the 
Mist, Horseshoe and Dufferins in the afternoon. 

STATISTICS. 

Niagara. Said to be an Iroquois word, mean- 
ing " Thunderer of Waters." 
Niagara River. 

Width, above the Falls, about 4,400 feet; 
53 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

below the Falls, about i,ooo feet; at the 
Whirlpool, about 400 feet. 

Length of river, from Lake Erie to Lake 
Ontario, 36 miles. 

Descent, from lake to lake, 336 feet, as fol- 
lows: from Lake Erie to the Falls (22 
miles), 70 feet (55 feet of this in the 
Rapids, ^ mile); at the Falls, 160 feet; 
from the Falls to Lake Ontario (14 miles), 
106 feet. 

Current, estimated at from 4 miles per hour 
in the quietest places to 40 miles at the 
Whirlpool Rapids. 

Depth, estimated at 20 feet in the river 
above the Falls; at the Whirlpool Rapids, 
250 feet; in the Whirlpool, 400 feet. 

Volume. Estimated that 15,000,000 cubic 
feet of water per minute pass over the 
Falls, or about one cubic mile per week. 
Niagara Falls. 

Width of Falls at the brink, including Goat 
Island, 5,370 feet, as follows : American 
Falls, 1,060 feet; Goat Island, about 1,300 
feet; the Horseshoe, in 1890, 3,010 feet. 
The Horseshoe Falls. 

Height, 158 feet. Contour, in 1890, 3,010 

54 



WHAT TO SEE. 

feet; in 1886, 2,600 feet; in 1842, 2,260 
feet. Width across, at widest point, about 
1,200 feet. Depth of water at brink, esti- 
mated, 20 feet. 

Average annual recession, 2.18 feet; total 
recession from 1842 to 1890, 104^ feet. 
Total area of recession for the same 48 
years, 6J4 acres. 
The American Fall. 

Height, 167 feet. Contour, in 1890, 1,060 
feet; in 1842, 1080 feet. Average annual 
recession, 7^ inches; total recession from 
1842 to 1890, 30% feet. Total area of re- 
cession for same period, ^ acre. 
The New York State Reservation. 

Area, 107 acres. Purchased by the State of 
New York, under Acts of April 30, 1883, 
and April 30, 1885, for $1,433,429.50; 
formally opened to the public July 15, 
1885. 
The Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park. 

Area, 154 acres. Preliminary Act of Legis- 
lature passed 1885. Park opened to the 
public. May 24, 1888. 
Goat Island. 

Area, about 63 acres; in early records said 

55 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

to have contained 250 acres. (Gull Isl- 
and, south of Goat Island, is said to have 
contained two acres of land in 1840. 
There is hardly a trace of it now.) Cir- 
cumference of island, about one mile. 
First bridge built, 181 7; another bridge, 
1856; present bridge, 1900-1901. 

Bridges to Three Sister Islands built 1868. 

The price paid by the State of New York 
for Goat Island and all the surrounding 
islands except a part of Bath Island, was 
$525,000.00. 

Suspension Bridge. 

Height of floor above river, 190 feet; height 
of towers, 100 feet; length of span, 1,268 
feet. First built, 1868-69; blown down 
and rebuilt, 1889. 

Steamers Maid of the Mist. 

First boat built and run, 1846. Larger boat 
built, 1854. Ran the Whirlpool and 
Rapids to Lewiston, to escape the sherifif, 
1 861. First of present boats launched, 
1885, 71 feet long; second launched, 1892, 
85 feet long. 



56 



WHAT TO SEE. 



CHARGES. 



Within New York State Reservation. 

Inclined Railway, Prospect Park. Either 

way, 5 cents. Stairs fre'e. 
Steamers Maid of the Mist, with rubber 

coat, 50 cents. 
Cave of the Winds, guide and dress, $1.00. 
Within Canadian Reservation. 

Behind Horseshoe Falls, with guide and 

dress, 50 cents. 
Dufferin Islands, 50 cents for carriage and 
all occupants, 10 cents for pedestrian. 
Steel Arch Bridges. 

Upper bridge, over and back, 15 cents; one 
way, 10 cents. Lower bridge, two miles 
below, over and back, 10 cents. 
Whirlpool. 

American or Canadian side, 50 cents. 
Whirlpool Rapids. 

American or Canadian side, with elevator, 

50 cents. 

Brock's Monument, 185 feet high; built, 1853. 

A former monument, 126 feet high, built 

in 1826, was destroyed by explosion in 

57 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

1840. Gener^al Brock fell in 181 3. Ad- 
mission to top of monument, 50 cents. 

CARRIAGE HIRE. 

New York Reservation Omnibuses. 

Round trip, including circuit of Goat Island, 
with stop-overs, 25 cents. Shorter trips, 
with stop-overs, 15 cents. Children 
under twelve years, half fare. Children 
under five years, free. 

Carriage Rates by Niagara Falls Ordinances. 
Two horses: first hour, $2.00; each addi- 
tional hour, $1.50. One horse : first hour, 
$1.50; each additional hour, $1.00. 

BELT LINE TROLLEY. 

From Niagara Falls to Queenston along the 
Canadian bank, returning via Lewiston 
and the Gorge, $1.00. 

GORGE RAILROAD. 

Round trip, Niagara Falls to Lewiston and 
return, 75 cents; one way, 50 cents. 



58 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

By Orrin E. Dunlap. 

The numerous strange features of the 
Niagara region have resuhed in the develop- 
ment of many remarkable incidents, all of 
which are a part of the history of the locality 
and thoroughly interesting as going to show 
how the human mind, impelled by unusual 
conditions, is led to attempt deeds of daring 
for dollars and notoriety. For nearly a cen- 
tury Niagara has been rich in such incidents, 
and the records show that in some cases hu- 
man life has been sacrificed in the general de- 
sire for gain, while in other cases the public 
has had opportunity to applaud the living 
heroes. 

During the final twenty years of the last 
century the efforts to attain notoriety through 
some Niagara feat were perhaps more frequent 
than ever before, but as far back as 1827, 
Niagara was recognized as an ideal place 

59 



TH^ NIAGARA BOOK. 

where great crowds might be assembled by 
thrilHng incidents. About the first feature 
of this character was the sending of 

THE PIRATE MICHIGAN 

over the Falls on the afternoon of September 
8, 1827. This vessel was at the time one of 
the largest of her class, but had been con- 
demned by her owners as unfit to longer sail 
the lakes. Dressed as a pirate, she was loaded 
with wild and tame animals, and with a crew 
in effigy, was towed to the foot of Navy Island 
and set adrift. She was caught by the current 
and hurled through the upper rapids and over 
the Horseshoe Fall. It was never recorded 
that any of the animals were recaptured to be 
sent to the museums in New York, Montreal, 
and London, as was the intention. Coaches 
left Buffalo on the afternoon of the 7th of 
September to accommodate the crowds, and 
all of the Niagara hotels were full of guests. 

SAM PATCH. 

Among the crowd drawn to the Falls by this 
incident was Sam Patch, a man who had won 
60 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

fame at Pawtucket Falls and other eastern 
points as a high jumper. He erected a plat- 
form at the water's edge of the dSbris slope 
just north of the Biddle Stairs, and from this 
platform leaped into the river, the height of 
the jump being about ninety feet. Patch was 
considered a wonder, but shortly after his 
Niagara experience he lost his life in a leap 
from the Genesee Fall in Rochester. 

FRANCIS ABBOTT. 

While Francis Abbott never sought fame, 
or even recognition, at Niagara, he won for 
himself a place in the history of the Falls that 
will stand forever. He was known as the 
" Hermit of Niagara." Of brilliant mind, mu- 
sical, he sought the sublimity of the cataract to 
live alone and commune with Nature. He 
lived on Goat Island and also in the section 
now known as Prospect Park. It was his cus- 
tom to bathe daily in the river, and on Friday, 
June lo, 183 1, he was drowned. His body 
was recovered June 21, 1831, and is buried in 
Oakwood Cemetery at the Falls. 



61 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 
DISCOVERY OF THE CAVE OF THE WINDS. 

There is no doubt but what the discovery of 
the Cave of the Winds marked a new era in the 
enjoyment of visitors to Niagara. The day of 
the discovery of this wonderful cave was July 
15, 1834. H. A. Parsons had made heroic 
efforts to reach the cave by passing through 
the stream from the Centre Fall, when B. H. 
White and G. W. Sims succeeded in crossing 
the water and rocks and entered the cave, and 
to them is due the credit for the discovery. 
When first entered, the cave was the home of 
many eels. 

BURNING OF THE CAROLINE. 

At the close of 1837 Canada was aflame with 

the Patriot war. The headquarters of the 

Patriots was on Navy Island, a short distance 

above the Falls. On the Canadian shore, about 

Chippewa Creek, the British were gathered. 

The steamer Caroline was in service on the 

upper river, and had made two trips from the 

New York shore to Navy Island. The British, 

feeling the boat was carrying supplies to the 
62 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

Patriots, organized a volunteer expedition, 
and at midnight on December 29, 1837, 
crossed the river to Schlosser Dock, where the 
Carohne was moored for the night, and cut her 
ropes, setting her adrift on the current. She 
was also set on fire, and all ablaze, she was 
carried down the river towards the Falls. 

WHEN NIAGARA RAN DRY. 

The winter of 1847-48 was of extraordinary- 
severity. Very heavy ice formed in Lake Erie. 
During the latter part of March this ice field 
was broken by a thaw and wind. The wind 
swept the ice into the entrance of the Niagara 
River at Buffalo, where it jammed in a solid 
mass, completely choking the outlet of Lake 
Erie, the result being that on March 29, 1848, 
the Falls of Niagara was practically dry. The 
spectacle was weird in the extreme, and lasted 
throughout the day, the scene being one of 
desolation. 

FALL OF TABLE ROCK. 

This incident is usually referred to as having 
occurred on June 26, 1850, when a piece 200 
63 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

by 260 feet fell witji a terrible crash. This un- 
doubtedly was the passing of the Table Rock 
known to the majority of Niagara visitors, but 
the fact is that, in July, 181 8, a big piece of the 
rock fell, while in December, 1828, and in 1829 
other pieces of the rock gave way. 

TRIP OF THE MAID OF THE MIST. 

One of the most daring feats ever performed 
at Niagara was that of Joel Robinson and his 
two associates, Maclntyre and Jones, on June 
6, 1861, when they voyaged through the Whirl- 
pool Rapids in the steamer Maid of the Mist. 
The boat was libelled and mortgaged to such 
an extent that the waters of the Niagara were 
too warm for her, and Robinson agreed to de- 
liver her at a Canadian lake port. On the 
afternoon of the day mentioned, to the surprise 
of all who saw the boat, instead of heading 
over her usual course up the river, her bow 
was directed right into the rapids, with the 
waves of which she was soon battling. It was 
the first trip of the kind ever made, but under 
a full head of steam she made the trip in safety, 
the stack being swept away in the seething 
64 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

waters. Robinson was born in Springfield, 
Mass, He died in 1863. 

CAPTAIN Webb's fatal swim. 

With the advent of Capt. Matthew Webb 
to Niagara, a new impetus was given to navi- 
gation of the Whirlpool Rapids. Captain 
Webb had won fame and glory in European 
waters, and he sought to add to his laurels 
by swimming the Niagara rapids unprotected 
by any life-saving device. The date of his fatal 
trip was July 24, 1883. Right on time, he left 
his hotel, the Clifton House, since destroyed 
by fire, at four o'clock. Entering a small boat,^ 
with Jack McCloy at the oars, he was carried 
to a point on the lower river several hundred 
feet above the lower bridges. It was 4.25 p.m. 
when he leaped from the boat into the water, 
and with nothing on but a pair of red trunks, 
swam boldly towards the rapids. On the 
banks and bridges thousands of people were 
gathered, for the event had been well heralded. 
At 4.32 P.M. he passed under the bridges. His 
stroke was beautiful. In three minutes more 
he had reached the fiercest part of the rapids. 
A great wave struck him. He disappeared from 
5 65 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

sight of all. Thousands of eyes watched the 
boiling waters, praying that his life might be 
spared. Four days went by, and some said 
Webb was in hiding so that advantageous be-ts 
might be made by his friends in England, but 
at midday July 28, 1883, his lifeless body was 
picked up seven miles down the river. It now 
occupies a grave beside that of the " Hermit 
of Niagara " in Oakwood Cemetery. 

CARLISLE D. GRAHAM's WONDERFUL TRIPS, 

If any man deserves the title of " Hero of the 
Whirlpool Rapids " it is Carlisle D. Graham, 
a Philadelphia cooper, who, despite Webb's 
death, travelled to Niagara determined to 
show the world that he had confidence that he 
could go through the rapids and live, as well 
as being willing to risk his life in a barrel of his 
own construction. Graham made his first trip 
on the afternoon of Sunday, July 11, 1886, 
going way to Lewiston, the trip occupying 
about thirty-five minutes. Graham rode in a 
barrel weighted at the bottom. The height of 
the barrel was so that he could nearly stand 
upright in it, and the top was of larger diam- 
eter than the bottom. On Thursday, August 

66 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

19, 1886, Graham made a second trip, going 
as far as the Whirlpool. In this trip his head 
protruded through the top of the barrel 
throughout the entire trip. He made a third 
trip June 15, 1887, and on August 25, 1889, 
he made a fourth trip, using a barrel of much 
smaller size and going way through to Lewis- 
ton. Graham will be remembered as never 
having disappointed a gathering. His nerve 
never failed him. 

HAZLETT AND POTTS. 

Copying somewhat the idea that Graham 
had developed so successfully, George Hazlett 
and William Potts, of Buffalo, made a trip 
through the rapids in a barrel, said to be of 
their own construction, on Sunday, August 8, 
1886. The barrel they used more closely re- 
sembled the familiar type of barrel, having no 
unusual features of form. 

W. J. KENDALL. 

Two weeks after Hazlett and Potts had 

made the trip there appeared at Niagara a 

Boston policeman named W. J. Kendall. The 

date was August 22, 1886. Unannounced, 

67 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Kendall went through the rapids to the Whirl- 
pool, protected by only a cork life-preserver. 
All previous trips had been publicly an- 
nounced, but Kendall slipped through wi^h 
only a few spectators, accidentally on the clifTs 
or bridges, to bear witness. For this reason 
some have felt that the trip was never made, 
but men of integrity are known who witnessed 
the performance. 

GEORGE HAZLETT AND SADIE ALLEN. 

In the same barrel that was used by Hazlett 
and Potts, Miss Sadie Allen and George Haz- 
lett made a trip through the rapids on Novem- 
ber 28, 1886. Miss Allen is the only woman 
who has ever made this journey through the 
Niagara gorge, and this trip, it may be re- 
marked, ended the barrel voyages. 

CHARLES ALEXANDER PERCY. 

Next to appear on the scene to win fame 
through the rapids voyage was Charles Alex- 
ander Percy, of Niagara Falls. Percy had 
watched the others journey through the wild 
waters, and, being a wagonmaker, he con- 
ceived the idea of building a boat which possi- 

68 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

bly might have value as a life-boat. The craft 
he built was seventeen feet long, four feet ten 
inches beam, with air chambers at either end. 
In this boat Percy made a fine trip through 
the rapids to the Whirlpool on Sunday, August 
28, 1887. During the passage of the rapids 
he occupied one of the air chambers. The 
boat remained at anchor on the Canadian side 
of the Whirlpool for a month following Percy's 
trip through the rapids, and on Sunday, Sep- 
tember 25, 1887, Percy and a friend, William 
Dittrick, made the trip through the lower half 
of the gorge from the Whirlpool to Lewiston, 
having a thrilling experience. In this trip 
Dittrick occupied one of the air compart- 
ments, while Percy sat in the cockpit. 

On September 16, 1888, Percy made a 
second trip through the waters of the gorge to 
Lewiston. In this trip he narrowly escaped 
death, his boat being lost. 

ROBERT WILLIAM FLACK. 

The success Percy had in navigating the 

waters of the gorge in his boat led Robert 

William Flack, of Syracuse, to travel to Niag- 

ara.to demonstrate the merits of a boat he had 

69 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

built. Percy and' Flack signed articles of 
agreement for a race through the rapids, but 
Flack was first to. show that his craft was sea- 
worthy. On the afternoon of July 4, 188S, 
Flack made this trip, and he went down to 
death. Flack's boat was of clinker pattern. 
In the trip through the rapids it capsized three 
times, but Flack remained in the boat because 
he was held there by a harness rigging about 
his body. It was a frightful spectacle, this 
trip of Flack's, and was witnessed by thousands 
of people. The last time the boat capsized was 
on the final big wave at the entrance to the 
Whirlpool. High in the air the boat tossed. 
It stood on end for an instant, and then it top- 
pled over on poor Flack. From the point 
where the boat capsized it floated about the 
pool upside down for an hour or more until 
captured on the Canadian side. Flack was 
found hanging dead by the straps he had 
placed there to aid him to save his life. 

WALTER G. CAMPBELL. 

This would-be hero selected Sunday, Sep- 
tember 15, 1889, for making the trip through 
the rapids. With a life-preserver about his 
70 




SPELTERINA. 




BLONDIN. 
(From photographs taken at the time.) 



D-RAMATIG INCIDENTS. 

body he rode in an open boat until it capsized, 
when he was thrown out and forced to battle 
with the waves. He landed in the Whirlpool 
twenty minutes after he started. A dog he 
carried with him in the boat was lost. 

JOHN LINCOLN SOULES. 

On July 4, 1890, John Lincoln Soules made 
an attempt to swim through the rapids, but in 
starting he kept too close to the Canadian 
bank and was thrown ashore at the elevator 
just below the bridges on the Canadian side, 
badly cutting one of his knees on a rock in 
landing. 

PETER NISSEN's FEAT. 

For ten years there was a rest from the 
rapids agitation, and nothing notable occurred 
in those waters until July 9, 1900, when Peter' 
Nissen, also known as " Bowser," appeared at 
the Falls and announced his intention of going 
through the rapids. Nissen is a bookkeeper, 
and the boat in which he made the trip was 
built after his own ideas. In length the boat 
was twenty feet. It had a beam of six feet and , 
a depth of four feet. It was decked over, with 
71 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the exception of a small cockpit in the centre. 
There were two air compartments in the front 
and rear, and one on each side of the cockpit. 
To the keel of the boat proper hung an iron 
keel weighing 1,250 pounds. It was after four 
o'clock when Nissen and his boat came out of 
an eddy in tow of a rowboat. After being set 
adrift, he got caught in an eddy just above the 
rapids and had to be started again. It was 
approaching five o'clock before he was in the 
rapids. His craft rode the waves magnifi- 
cently. It was a glorious sight, quite in con- 
trast with the spectacle presented by Flack and 
his light craft. Never once did Nissen's boat 
capsize, for all it was wave-washed frequently. 
After reaching the Whirlpool, Nissen and his 
boat floated about until captured, when Nissen 
landed. The following day his boat was sent 
out of the pool to float to Lewiston, where it 
was taken from the water. Nissen's feat was 
indeed a grand sight. His home is in Chicago. 

M. BLONDIN. 

Of all the men who have won fame at Niag- 
ara none was more lasting than that of Blon- 
din, who^ on Thursday, May 30, 1859, ^^'St 
72 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

crossed the Niagara gorge on a tight rope. 
His cable was stretched over the river -at a 
point now midway between the upper and 
lower bridges. He made frequent trips there- 
after, and on August 14, 1859, he carried 
Harry M. Colcord across the cable on his back. 
Blondin also crossed the gorge in i860, in 
which year his cable was stretched over the 
Whirlpool Rapids below the old railway sus- 
pension bridge, since replaced by a steel arch. 
He walked with baskets on his feet, performed 
on stilts, cooked his meals on the rope. On 
September 8, i860, Blondin walked for the 
Prince of Wales, now King of England, and 
on this occasion he also carried Colcord on 
his back. 

SIGNOR FARINI. 

While Blondin was commanding much at- 
tention by his performances in i860, Signor 
Farini appeared at the Falls and stretched a 
cable across the gorge near the hydraulic canal 
basin. He was very expert on the rope and 
commanded much attention, but Blondin's 
fame has lived, while Farini has been forgotten. 

73 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 



SIGNOR BALLENI. 



In 1873 Signer Balleni stretched a cable 
from a point opposite the old Clifton House 
to Prospect Park. One of his feats was to 
leap into the river, aided in his descent by a 
rubber cord. 

MARIA SPELTERINA. 

It was in July, 1876, that Maria Spelterina 
crossed the gorge on a tight rope. She is the 
only woman who has ventured this feat, and in 
all her performances she was watched by great 
crowds. Her rope was stretched over the 
rapids where Blondin last walked. She won 
great favor. 

JENKINS AND HIS VELOCIPEDE. 

Still another who performed on a tight rope 
at the Falls was a man named Jenkins, who 
stretched his cable across the gorge over the 
rapids. One of his principal feats was to cross 
from cliff to cliff on a machine that resembled 
a velocipede, his balance pole being held by 
an arrangement under his feet. 
74 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 



STEVE PEERE. 



On June 22, 1887, Steve Peere, a painter, 
walked across the gorge on a wire cable six- 
eighths of an inch in diameter, stretched be- 
tween the old suspension bridge and the canti- 
lever bridge. His was indeed a wonderful 
performance, considering all the others had 
used a rope two inches in diameter. On June 
25, 1887, Peere was found dead on the bank 
beneath his rope, the supposition being that he 
had attempted to walk it at night. 



SAMUEL JOHN DIXON. 

While Samuel John Dixon, a Toronto, Ont., 
photographer, was on his way to the photog- 
raphers' annual convention, he observed 
Peere's cable still stretched across the Niagara 
gorge. He remarked that he could cross on 
it, and true to his word he returned to the Falls 
and made a trip over the slender cable on 
Saturday, September 6, 1890. He performed 
several gymnastic feats in the centre, and won 
much applause. 

75 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 
CLIFFORD M. CALVERLEY. 

Clifford M. Calverley, of Toronto, erected 
a wire cable at the same point between the 
bridges where Peere and Dixon had crossed, 
and on Wednesday, October 12, 1892, he gave 
his first public exhibition at Niagara. He was 
indeed clever, and won for himself the title of 
the " American Blondin." On Saturday, July 
I, 1893, Calverley opened another series of ex- 
hibitions at the Falls, performing numerous 
feats, such as high kicking, walking with 
baskets on his feet, cooking meals on the rope, 
and chair balancing. He also gave night ex- 
hibitions. 

AVERY ON THE LOG. 

Of all the incidents connected with Niagara 
none is more thrilling than the efforts made to 
rescue Avery from a log in the rapids, a short 
distance above the American Fall, on July 19, 
1853. The night before, Avery and a compan- 
ion had been swept down the river in a boat. 
Avery landed on a log, but his companion was 
carried over the Fall. All day long mighty 
efforts were made to save Avery. Boats, rafts, 
and barrels were let down to him from the 
76 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

Goat Island bridge, and towards evening, just 
when a rescue appeared certain, the very boat 
that was designed to carry him to safety 
struck him full in the breast and knocked him 
into the river, and he was hurled over the Fall, 
to the horror of the assembled thousands. 

A SAD INCIDENT. 

To pretty Luna Island must be accredited 
what is perhaps the most sorrowful incident in 
the history of Niagara. On June 21, 1849, 
while the family of Mr. Deforest, of Buffalo, in 
company with a friend, Charles Addington, 
were viewing the American Fall from this 
island, Mr. Addington playfully picked up An- 
nette Deforest and held her over the rapid 
rushing water. The child, in the excitement, 
sprang out of Mr. Addington's arms into the 
water. In a second she was dashed over the 
precipice. As she struck the water Mr. Ad- 
dington leaped after her, and he also was swept 
to death over the precipice. 

UNCONQUERED NIAGARA. 

Despite all that has been claimed by certain 
fakirs, let it be known that up to the opening 

77. 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

of the twentieth century no human being has 
ever gone over the Falls of Niagara and lived 
to tell the story of the experience. 

DUMMY MAID OF THE MIST. 

In September, 1883, several enterprising 
citizens of Niagara Falls purchased a small 
boat, which they fitted up to represent the 
Maid of the Mist^, and sent it through the 
rapids. Men were stationed about the boat in 
efhgy, but no human beings were allowed 
aboard during the trip, for all there were ap- 
pHcations for passage. The boat passed 
through the gorge in good shape. 

NEW YORK STATE RESERVATION, 

On the 15th day of July, 1885, the lands in 
the immediate vicinity of the Falls were 
thrown open free to all mankind forever. New 
York State having acquired the property from 
the individual owners on payment of $1,433,- 
429.50. 

VICTORIA PARK. 

On the 24th of May, 1888, the sixty-ninth 
anniversary of Her Most Gracious Majesty, 
the late Queen Victoria, the lands on the Cana- 

. 78 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

dian side were opened free to the public. On 
June 21, 1888, the event was celebrated. 

DEATH ON THE ICE MOUNTAIN. 

On February 28, 1886, while L. G. De Witt, 
of New York, was viewing the winter scenery, 
he slipped from the ice mound towards the 
American Fall. On March 11, following, his 
body was seen on the ice at the foot of the Fall. 
On March 12th dynamite was used to blast the 
ice in order that the body might be recovered. 
March 13th a tunnel through the great ice 
mountain was begun, and after three days of 
hard work the body was secured. 

RESCUED FROM A ROCK. 

While engaged in painting the bridge that 
leads to the Second Sister Island, in 1874, Wil- 
liam McCullough fell into the river. In his 
passage down stream he caught on a rock, 
from which he was rescued by Thomas Con- 
roy, then a well-known guide. 

RESCUE OF CHAPIN. 

In 1838, while one of the bridges leading 
from the mainland to Gpat Island was being 
79 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

repaired, a Mr. Chapin fell from the work into 
the water. He was fortunate enough to land 
on one of the small islands, from which point 
he was rescued by Joel Robinson by means of 
a small boat. The island is known as Chapin 
Island. 

TAYLOR ISLAND DOGS. 

Before the construction of the Gorge Road, 
a fall of rock on the New York side of the 
Whirlpool Rapids was known as Taylor's Isl- 
and. Two dogs that had been thrown ofif 
the lower bridge landed here. They attracted 
much attention. Food was thrown to them 
daily. On August ii, 1881, James F. Brown 
descended the cliff and rescued them. 

TRIP OF THE DETROIT. 

In 1841 the Detroit, a vessel of about 500 
tons burden, was started down the river, the 
intention being to send her over the Falls. 
She lodged on a reef, and afterwards went to 
pieces. The Detroit is said to have been one 
of Commodore Perry's fleet. 



So 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 



BIDDLE STAIRS. 



The Biddle Stairs are on Goat Island and 
lead to the Cave of the Winds. They are 
named after Nicholas Biddle, of Philadelphia, 
who gave a sum of money towards their con- 
struction in 1829. There is a desire to replace 
them with an elevator. 

OLD TERRAPIN TOWER, 

This structure was erected at Terrapin 
Point, on the edge of the Horseshoe Fall, in 
1833, the stone being gathered in the vicin- 
ity. It was 45 feet high, 12 feet in diameter at 
the base, and 8 feet at the top. It was believed 
to be unsafe, and was torn down in 1873. 
There is talk of rebuilding it. 

SUSPENSION BRIDGE DESTROYED. 

On the night of January 9-10, 1889, a ter- 
rific gale swept down the Niagara gorge from 
the southwest. It caught the upper suspen- 
sion bridge full on the side. Stays gave way, 
and soon the great structure was swinging at 
the mercy of the gale. About 3 a.m. it fell 
into the gorge, a complete wreck. Dr. John 

6 81 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Hodge was the last man to cross it before it 
fell. 

WRECK OF LEWISTON BRIDGE. 

There was a vast amount of ice passing 
down the Niagara River in the winter of 1863- 
1864, and the men in charge of the old Lewis- 
ton suspension bridge unfastened the guys, 
thinking the ice might carry them away. After 
the ice-floe had passed they forgot to refasten 
them, and a high wind wrecked the bridge on 
February i, 1864. It was not rebuilt until 
1899. 

THRILLING RESCUES. 

John McCloy is the owner of a medal for 
several daring rescues at Niagara. On Octo- 
ber 6, 1886, he rescued Charles Robinson from 
the remnant of a pier in the rapids above 
Bath (now Green) Island. This feat was per- 
formed at night by the light of bonfires. On 
November 15, 1887, he rescued William Glass- 
brook from the rocks at the foot of the Horse- 
shoe Fall. Glassbrook was out duck hunting 
and had lost his boat. " Thank God ! I'm saved 
at last," were the first words Louis Hoehn ut- 
tered after McCloy had rescued him from a 
82 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

ledge of rock in the river, a third of the dis- 
tance between Goat and Bird Islands, on Mon- 
day, May 9, 1898. 

GOAT ISLAND. 

This beautiful spot is so named because 
John Stedman placed thereon a number of ani- 
mals, among them a male goat. This was 
about 130 years ago. It was the intention to 
have the animals winter there, but when spring 
came none but the goat was found alive, and to 
this incident is attributed the naming of the 
island. 

SEARCHLIGHT ILLUMINATION. 

One of the new features at Niagara during 
the summer months is the nightly illumination 
of the Whirlpool Rapids by searchlight oper- 
ated on the Niagara Gorge Railroad. The 
spectacle is unusual and brilliant. At times 
the illumination is effected by means of power- 
ful arc lamps at the old Buttery elevator, and 
at other periods of the display both the shore 
lights and the searchlight are in operation. A 
divergent door placed before the searchlight 
serves to cast the beam from bank to bank, 
while color discs give various hues to the light 
83 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

and the water. At times red fire is burned in 
quantities, and the diffs and the wild waters 
are aflame. Under this hght the Whirlpool 
Rapids become a raging torrent of crimson. 

EARLY CROSSING OF THE GORGE. 

When the railway suspension bridge, re- 
cently supplanted by an arch, was projected, 
connection was made between the cliffs by a 
kite string. This served to draw a heavier 
cord, and later wire cables, over the river, and 
on the cables so placed an iron basket was 
operated from clifif to cliff. Although it was 
designed to aid in the construction of the 
bridge, thousands of passengers were carried. 
This basket is now in possession of the Buffalo 
Historical Society. 

OLD FERRYBOAT SERVICE. 

From the foot of what is now the inclined 
railway in Prospect Park, a ferryboat service 
was for many years operated between the 
banks. The boats were small but staunch, and 
manned by strong oarsmen. Until 1868 there 
was no bridge crossing the river close to the 
84 




Copyright, 1900, by Orrin E. Dunlap. 
SEARCHLIGHT IX THE GORGE. 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 

Falls, and the ferryboats were largely patron- 
ized. The trip was full of interest, for from 
the ferryboats views of the Falls were obtain- 
able from midstream. The steamer Maid of 
the Mist has now taken the place of the smaller 
craft. 

A THRILLING EXPERIENCE. 

On Sunday afternoon, January 22, 1899, 
while about fifty people were crossing on the 
ice bridge, the ice' commenced to move down 
stream on the current. Immediately there 
was a wild rush for the shores. One young 
man saved himself by leaping from the ice onto 
the steel arch near the American shore, but a 
man and woman, who gave the names of C. E. 
Misner and Miss Bessie Hall, were carried 
several hundred feet down stream before they 
reached the bank of the river. 

ICE PALACE. 

In 1898 several residents of Niagara Falls 
erected an ice palace on the Riverway opposite 
Prospect Park. The weather was very un- 
favorable for the venture, and it proved a 
financial failure. 

85 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 
CROSSING THE ICE BRIDGE ON HORSEBACK. 

On Thursday and Friday, January 23 and 
24, 1879, Andrew Wallace, a resident of Can- 
ada, rode a horse across the ice bridge and up 
the ice mountain. Robert Owen, of Niagara 
Falls, has also performed this feat. 

WATER BICYCLE TRIP. 

On Sunday, August 14, 1887, Prof. Al- 
phonse King crossed the river below the Falls 
and bridge on a water bicycle. The wheel 
with paddles was erected between two water- 
tight cylinders, 8 inches in diameter and 10 
feet long. 

ROMANTIC MARRIAGES. 

Tuesday, July 28, 1891, in the evening, just 
as the sun was sinking in the west, Judge 
Edward E. Russell married Henry Bird and 
Miss Carrie Scudder, of Newark, N. J., on the 
upper suspension bridge. On another occa- 
sion Judge Russell married a romantic couple 
at the entrance to the Cave of the Winds, right 
in the spray cloud. 

86 



DRAMATIC INCIDENTS. 
RESCUE OF MRS. GRIMASON. 

While crossing the old upper suspension 
bridge on Saturday, September 24, 1892, Mrs. 
Grimason, of Toronto, Ont., fell through a 
hole. She caught on the bottom chord, from 
which perilous position she was rescued by 
Harry WilHams, Harry Huntley, and Rev. Dr. 
Ramsay. Williams received a medal from the 
Royal Canadian Humane Society. 

AUTOMOBILE ACROSS ICE BRIDGE. 

Wednesday, February 27, 1901, an auto- 
mobile was taken down the bank on the Cana- 
dian side and dragged across the ice bridge. 
It was pulled up the slope leading to the ice 
mountain, where photographs were taken for 
advertising purposes. 

SLID DOWN A ROPE. 

Monday, August 15, 1887, Prof. J. E. De- 
Leon, who aspired to be Peere's successor, 
started out to cross his cable. After going a 
short distance he slid down a rope and dis- 
appeared in the bushes, ascending the bank by 
a ladder. 

87 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 



THE CRANDALL CASE. 



Niagara records do not contain a more re- 
markable incident than that concerning Bry- 
ant B. Crandall, a Buffalo man who left his 
home on the last day of May, 1886, and on the 
following day wrote letters intimating an in- 
tention to commit suicide. April 3d a hat 
bearing his name was found on the river bank. 
July 28th a body found near Queenston was 
identified as that of Crandall and interred in 
the family plot, Buffalo. His insurance poli- 
cies were paid. In 1887 suspicion was excited 
by William B. Sirrett, of Buffalo, claiming to 
have seen Crandall in Los Angeles, Cal. Clew 
after clew was followed. A reward of $1,000 
was offered. In 1892 Crandall was captured 
in California. 

THE " AMERICAN BLONDIN." 

Harry Leslie was first to be given the title of 
" American Blondin." He crossed the gorge 
and rapids on a rope cable in July and August, 
1865. 



88 



dramatic incidents. 

boring's band in cave of the winds. 

On the afternoon of Saturday, August 26, 
1865, Boring's Band, of Troy, N. Y., then fill- 
ing a summer engagement at one of the hotels, 
passed through the Cave of the Winds, carry- 
ing their instruments. The band had ten 
members. They played " Yankee Doodle " 
on Prospect Rock in front of the cave. 

FARINI IN THE RAPIDS. 

Monday, August 8, 1864, Farini walked 
about the rapids above the American Fall on 
stilts. Between Robinson's Island and the 
precipice he was delayed. He claimed his 
stilts caught in a crevice. His brother suc- 
ceeded in reaching a log between the old paper 
mill and Robinson's Island, from whence he 
threw a line, with a weight attached, to the ad- 
venturer, and by this line a pail of provisions 
was sent to Farini. A larger line was thrown 
and both reached shore by way of Goat Island. 



89 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

By Peter A, Porter. 

Famous all over the world as Niagara is to- 
day in its scenic, botanic, geologic, and hy- 
draulic aspects, it is equally famous, equally 
interesting, and equally instructive in its vari- 
ous and numerous historic features. And in 
using the words of our title we use them in 
their broadest and noblest sense, employing 
the word " historic " to cover all those multi- 
tudinous phases of this region's existence and 
condition at which a true student of history 
instinctively looks; and the word Niagara, 
not in that circumscribed meaning which takes 
in only the Falls and their immediate sur- 
roundings, but making it cover both banks of 
this famous river from its source to its mouth. 
To treat of such a broad subject within the 
narrow limits of a few pages will permit of only 
the briefest reference to any point. 
90 




Photograph by Nielsoii. 
THE AMERICAN FALL FROM GOAT ISLAND. 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 
EARLY MENTIONS OF NIAGARA. 

Just when white men first saw the Falls we 
cannot accurately say. This great Cataract 
was known in a general way to the Indians of 
North America, who dwelt far from it and who 
had never seen it, probably before Columbus 
sailed on his first voyage of discovery. It has 
been known to white men, only since 1603, al- 
though the Falls may possibly, though not 
probably, have been visited during the i6th 
century by any one of the adventurous seamen 
and traders sent out by France to explore the 
New World, though they left no record of 
any such visitations. Samuel De Champlain 
in his " Des Sauvages," published in 1603 and 
describing his first voyage to the St. Lawrence, 
in that year, refers to the Falls in unmistak- 
able language though not by name, this being 
the first reference to them in literature. The 
Indians told him in reply to his inquiries 
regarding the source of the St. Lawrence, 
that " after ascending many leagues among 
rapids and waterfalls he would reach a lake 
(Ontario), 140 or 150 leagues broad, at the 
western end of which the waters were whole- 
91 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

some and the winters mild; that a river emp- 
tied into it from the south which had its source 
in the country of the Iroquois; that beyond 
the lake he would find a cataract and a port- 
age; then another lake (Erie) about equal to 
the former, which they had never explored." 
Champlain never saw Niagara. In his 1613 
volume, describing his voyages up to that 
date, he locates them very accurately on his 
maps as a " waterfall," but not by name; and 
in his 1632 edition, he both locates them cor- 
rectly, though not by their name, on his map 
and further refers to them in his description 
of the map itself. In 1641, the Jesuit Father 
L'Allement in his letters to his superior, speak- 
ing of the Indian tribes, refers to the " Neuter 
nation (Onguiaarha), having the same name as 
the river; " and in 1648 the Jesuit Father 
Ragueneau in a similar letter says, " North of 
the Fries is a great lake fully 200 leagues in 
circumference called Erie, formed by the dis- 
charge of the Mer Douce (Lake Huron), which 
falls into a third lake called Ontario, though 
we call it Lake St. Louis, over a cataract of 
fearful height." In 1656 Sanson located the 
Falls accurately on his map and called them 
92 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 



" Ongiara," and in 1660 De Creuxius in his 
" Historiae Canadensis " noted them as " On- 
giara Catarractes." In 1678, Father Louis 
Hennepin, who accompanied La Salle, tells us 
that " he personally " visited the Falls, and in 




FAC-SIMILE OF A VIEW OF NIAGARA FALLS BY FATHER 
HENNEPIN. 

(From the Original Utrecht Edition, 1697.) 

his first book, " Louisiana," published in 1683, 
describing La Salle's explorations and adven- 
tures in this section of the country, applies the 
name Niagara both to the river and to the 
Falls, and gives the earliest, though a very 

93 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

brief description of the Falls themselves. In 
1688, Coronellis's map of this region locates 
the Falls and first uses the name " Niagara " 
in cartography, a name used from that date 
without change. In 1691, Father Le Clercq 
in his " Establishment of the Faith " (from 
which work Father Hennepin is accused of 
plagiarizing certain parts of his famous " New 
Discovery "), also speaks of " Niagara Falls," 
but it is in Father Hennepin's " New Discov- 
ery " just referred to, pubHshed in 1697, that 
we find the first real description of them pre- 
served to us in type, and in that volume is also 
given the first illustration of the Falls, which 
is reproduced in this work. A part of Henne- 
pin's description is also quoted in another arti- 
cle in this book. 

During the next fifty years Hennepin's three 
works appeared in some forty-five editions and 
reproductions, and were translated into all the 
languages of Europe; and by these means and 
from descriptions of other travellers (not- 
ably that of Campanius Holm, in his " New 
Sweden," published in 1702, and Baron La 
Hontan's "Voyages," published in 1703) Ni- 
agara became generally known to Europeans. 

94 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

It was reserved for Charlevoix, in 1721, accu- 
rately to reckon the height of the Falls and to 
correct other erroneous reports and descrip- 
tions of them published theretofore. We have 
thus briefly traced the history of the earliest 
knowledge and of the earliest literature of Ni- 
agara down to a comparatively recent date. 
From that time the bibliography of Niagara, 
including its cartography and illustrations of 
every kind, is so voluminous as to form in itself 
a distinct branch of our title on which for lack 
of space we cannot even touch. 

THE NAME NIAGARA. 

The Indian custom of giving their^ tribal 
name to, or taking it from, the chief natural 
feature of the country they inhabited (as 
proved by the nomenclature of the Central and 
Eastern States, as well as in the extensive 
literature on Indian subjects) tells us that a 
nation of this name inhabited the territory 
along the Niagara River on both sides ; but as 
there are forty different known ways of spell- 
ing the name, its orthography differs materi- 
ally with various early authors.* This much, 

* A list of these is given in the Index volume of the " Docu- 
95 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

however, we know — that when Hennepin first 
saw the Falls, Niagara was the local Indian 
spelling of the name; " Niagara," the world 
accepted it; and " Niagara" it has been ever 
since. According to the most general accept- 
ance the name is derived from what is com- 
monly known as the Iroquois language, and 
signifies " the thunder of the waters," though 
this appropriate and poetic significance has 
been questioned, and it is claimed by some that 
it signifies " neck," symbolizing the fact of the 
Niagara River being the connecting link be- 
tween the two great lakes. 

The Neuter or Niagara nation of Indians 
(subsequently merged into the Iroquois) by 
whom the name was first adopted, would seem 
to have pronounced it Nyah-ga-r^h, their lan- 
guage having no labial sounds, and all their 
words being spoken without closing the lips. 
The pronunciation Nee-ah-gara, sometimes 
heard nowadays, was probably also in common 
use later on ; vv^hile in more modern Indian dia- 
lect, the sounding of every vowel being still 

mentary History of the State of New York." The most com- 
monly met with of these variations are Onguaiarha, Ongiara, 
Onyakara, lagara, Nicariaga, Ungiara, and Jagara. 
96 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

continued, Ni-ah-g(lh-rah (accent on the third 
syllable) was the accepted, as it is the cor- 
rect, pronunciation, the present pronunciation, 
without any pronounced accent on any sylla- 
ble, being an adaptation of more recent years. 

MODERN HISTORY. 

The commencement of what may be termed 
the modern history of this region dates back 
to that day in December, 1678, when, starting 
from the mouth of the Niagara River, 

" A chieftain of the Iroquois, clad in a bison skin. 
Had let two travelers through the woods — 
La Salle and Hennepin " — 

to view the great cataract of which they had 
heard so much from their Indian allies on the 
St. Lawrence. As these three men stood 
there, they typified the nations — the French 
and the Indian — that for almost a hundred 
years were to control the destinies of this re- 
gion; and in their personalities, " the chief, the 
soldier of the sword and the soldier of the 
cross," they exemplified the professions by 
means of which its conquest and civilization 
were to be effected. 

In the two hundred years that have elapsed 

7 97 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

since that day, the Indian and the Frenchman 
have disappeared from this region; another 
and a stronger race has acquired possession of 
this territory, to be in turn dispossessed of half 
of it by her own descendants. And during 
those two hundred years, on the pages of their 
history and in the literature of France, Eng- 
land, Canada, and the United States, the name 
Niagara is indelibly stamped as a prominent 
and integral part. 

OWNERSHIP. 

So far as the contention for, and the posses- 
sion of, this famous region by the nations of 
the earth are concerned, we may divide its his- 
tory into these main periods : 

French claims on a broad basis by reason of 
early explorations and discoveries in the East, 
up to the real occupation by La Salle in 
1678. 

French occupation and sovereignty from 
that date, gradually, but regularly, and at last 
successfully disputed by the EngHsh in 1759. 

English occupation and undisputed control 
from then till 1776. 

English occupation till 1783, and from that 
98 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

date undisputed ownership of the land lying 
west of the Niagara River. 

United States ownership and control of that 
part lying east of the Niagara River from that 
date, although so far as Fort Niagara is con- 
cerned, England did not relinquish it till 1796. 

FRENCH OCCUPATION. 

The French, having early claimed all the 
northeastern part of this continent from Lab- 
rador southwards as above noted, began at an 
early date to push their explorations and con- 
quests westwards at first mainly along the line 
of the St. Lawrence River. Champlain, be- 
tween 1603 and 1630, had done much to make 
France a paramount force in this section and 
to attach many of the Indians to her allegiance 
by siding with them in their tribal wars 
against their neighbors — an alliance which in 
after years arrayed many Indian tribes, espe- 
cially the powerful Iroquois, against her and 
hastened her defeat. 

On December 6, 1678, Father Hennepin, 

in a brig of ten tons and with a crew of sixteen 

persons, entered the mouth of the Niagara 

River. He was on his westward journey, sent 

LofC. 99 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

on in advance by La Salle, who followed him 
before the close of the year, and who, through 
love of his country and expectations of per- 
sonal wealth, had labored long to extend the 
sovereignty of France. La Salle's object was 
to make good by conquest the powers con- 
ferred upon him by the French king, to obtain 
for himself a monopoly of the fur trade, and to 
reach and control the mines of St. Barbe, in 
Louisiana; and as he went he intended to es- 
tablish a chain of fortifications which both in 
war and the fur trade should be points of van- 
tage for future generations. 

A true soldier, La Salle at once saw the 
immense strategic advantage of the point 
where Fort Niagara now stands, and to this 
day the correctness of his judgment has not 
been questioned. Here he built a trading 
post, and pursuing his way up the Niagara 
River to where Lewiston now stands, he built 
a fort of palisades ; and carrying the anchors, 
cordage, etc., which he had brought for that 
purpose, up the so-called " Three Mountains " 
at Lewiston, he found a spot at the mouth of 
Cayuga Creek, about five miles above the Falls 
(where is to-day a hamlet bearing his name). 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

where he built and launched the Griffon, the 
first vessel that ever sailed the upper lakes. 
For almost a hundred years after this the his- 
tory of the Niagara Frontier belongs to the 
French, though their sovereignty was attacked 
and at last overthrown by the English. 

In 1687, Marquis De Nonville, during his 
expedition against the hostile Senecas, rebuilt 
La Salle's destroyed trading post at Fort Ni- 
agara into a strong fort. The following year 
it was abandoned and destroyed, but it was 
too valuable a point of vantage to be lost, and 
in 1725 it was rebuilt in stone by consent of 
the Iroquois. 

The site of the present village of Lewiston, 
the head of navigation on the lower Niagara, 
was the commencement of a portage by which 
goods, ammunition, etc., were conveyed to a 
point about a mile and a half above the Falls, 
over a line which is still called the Portage 
Road. For the purposes of this portage, 
from the edge of the river at the lower end of 
the rapids, up the " Three Mountains," was 
built a rude tramway on which, by means of 
ropes and windlasses, a car was raised and low- 
ered. Built in 1764, it is claimed to have been 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the first railroad constructed in this country. 
Though noted on many maps no trace even of 
its foundations now remains. The Indians, 
naturally averse to manual labor, operated the 
tramway, taking their pay in rum and tobacco, 
otherwise unobtainable by them. The upper 
end of this portage was originally only a land- 
ing place for boats, but was gradually fortified 
until in 1750 it became a strong fort — called 
Fort Du Portage, or by some. Fort Little 
Niagara — to defend the French barracks and 
storehouses which had been erected there. 
The Fort was burned in 1759 by Joncaire, who 
was in command when the British commenced 
their memorable campaign of that year, and 
Joncaire retreated to a station on Chippewa 
Creek. In that campaign General Prideaux, 
commanding the British forces in this section, 
and carrying out that portion of the general 
plan assigned to him, massed his forces on the 
shore of Lake Ontario, east of Fort Niagara, 
and demanded its surrender; this being re- 
fused, he laid siege to it. During the siege 
Prideaux was killed, and Sir William Johnson 
succeeded him and captured Fort Niagara, the 
main stronghold then held by the French in 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

that long chain of forts connecting Canada 
with Louisiana. During the siege the French 
had sent reinforcements from Venango in 
Pennsylvania to the garrison of Niagara. 
They left their vessels on Navy Island (named 
Isle de Marine by the French), passed over the 
Portage, and just before reaching Fort Niag- 
ara were ambushed and routed by the British. 
On Navy Island the French had recently built 
some small vessels, and to prevent these, as 
well as the two ships which brought down the 
reinforcements from Venango, from falling 
into the hands of the victorious British, they 
took them over to Grand Island, at the 
northern end of which is a bay, where they 
set them on fire, destroying them and sinking 
the useless hulls, from which circumstance 
the place is called Burnt Ship Bay to this 
day. 

The British successes of 1759 made them 
masters of all this frontier, and by 1761 Capt. 
Joseph Schlosser of the British Army built a 
fort a little to the east of Fort Du Portage and 
named it after himself. Just below the site of 
that fort still stands a solitary stone chimney, 

the only relic left of all these fortifications. It 
103 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 



was part of the old French barracks, previously 
alluded to at Fort Du Portage. 



DEVIL S HOLE MASSACRE. 

The Indian nature is heartless and' unforgiv- 
ing. When Champlain in his trip to the lake 
which bears his name asked the assistance of 
the Hurons, he took their part in their tribal 
war against the Iroquois. Thus was laid the 
commencement of that partisanship of the 
various Indian tribes, some to the French and 
some to the English, which lasted throughout 
the better part of the eighteenth century, and 
one of the results of which was that fatal trag- 
edy on this frontier known as " The Devil's 
Hole Massacre." 

After the British success of 1759 and their 
subsequent control of this territory, the Sene- 
cas, actuated by their inherited hatred of the 
English and incited probably by the French, 
commenced a bloody supplemental campaign 
in 1763. Knowing that the English were daily 
sending poorly guarded trains from Fort 
Niagara through Lewiston, where they had 
an auxiliary encampment, to Fort Schlosser, 
they planned an ambuscade and executed it 
104 



% 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

with precision and fatal results. At the nar- 
row pass at the Devil's Hole they ambushed 
the supply train, destroying it and killing all 
but three of the escort and drivers. They then 
ambushed the relieving force, which on hear- 
ing the firing had hastened from Lewiston, 
killing all but eight. It was a masterly exam- 
ple of Indian warfare executed with Indian 
cunning and Indian bloodthirstiness. 

CESSIONS AND TREATIES. 

By the treaty of 1763 France ceded to Eng- 
land all this region and all her Canadian pos- 
sessions for which her armies and her mis- 
sionaries had spent, during one hundred years, 
so much energy, so vast an amount of money, 
and so many lives. 

In the spring of 1764 Sir William Johnson, 
supplementing the treaty of the preceding 
year, assembled representatives of all the In- 
dians of Northern America from both East 
and West, over 2,000 in number, including the 
hostile Senecas, at Fort Niagara, and acquired 
from them, for the British Crown, the title to a 
large tract of land, including a strip four miles 
in width, two miles wide on each side of the 
105 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Niagara River for its entire length. At the 
same time the Senecas ceded to Sir William 
Johnson all the islands in the Niagara River. 
He in turn ceded them to the British Sover- 
eign. So that at this time Niagara Falls, the 
grandest and most noted cataract on the 
globe, was the Koh-i-noor of the English Crown 
in the New World. Twelve years afterwards 
the Declaration of Independence was signed 
and the long revolutionary struggle for inde- 
pendence commenced. Had General Sulli- 
van's campaign of 1779, as planned, been suc- 
cessful, he would have attacked Fort Niagara; 
but disaster overtook him, and the War of the 
Revolution never reached the Niagara River 
in actual hostilities. In 1783 the Treaty of Paris 
was signed, by which England admitted the in- 
dependence of the United States and recog- 
nized the Great Lakes as our northern bound- 
ary, though it was not until 1796, after the 
ratification of Jay's treaty, that she abandoned 
some of the strongholds on our soil, including 
Fort Niagara. 

WAR OF 1812. 
It is foreign to the purpose of this article to 
discuss the causes, some of which had a bear- 
106 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

ihg on this region, which led up to President 
Madison's proclamation of war between Great 
Britain and the United States, known as the 
War of 1 812, of which this immediate region, 
popularly called the Niagara frontier, felt the 
full force. In the fall of that year, four months 
after the declaration of war, General Van 
Rensselaer established his camp near Lewiston 
(so called in honor of Governor Lewis of New 
York), and collected an army to invade Can- 
ada. After one unsuccessful attempt he 
reached the Canadian shore, and by the time 
General Brock had arrived from the mouth of 
the river to oppose him, was in possession of 
Queenston Heights. In endeavoring to re- 
capture these and to retrieve the point of van- 
tage that never should have been lost. General 
Brock was killed. British reinforcements ar- 
riving from Niagara, the Americans were dis- 
lodged from the heights, defeated, and many 
taken prisoners. Meanwhile, on the American 
side, in full view of the battle, were some hun- 
dreds of American volunteers who basely re- 
fused to cross the river and aid their compan- 
ions. At the foot of Queenston Heights an 
inscribed stone (set in place by the Prince of 
107 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Wales in i860) marks the exact spot where 
Brock fell; and on the heights, just above it, 
a lofty and beautiful column (the second one 
erected at this point, the first one having been 
blown up by a miscreant in 1840) stands as a 
monument of his country's gratitude. In the 
same year Gen. Alexander Smyth, of Virginia, 
issued his famous bombastic circular inviting 
everybody to join him at Black Rock, near 
Buffalo, and invade Canada from that point. 
Some five thousand men responded to his invi- 
tation, but Smyth having made himself a 
laughing-stock among his own people, the in- 
vasion was abandoned and the army dis- 
persed. 

In the following year, 181 3, the Americans 
captured Fort George on the Canadian shore, 
near the mouth of the Niagara River, and the 
village of Newark, or Niagara. This is the 
oldest settlement in this section. It was for a 
time the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor 
of Canada, and here in 1792 the first Parlia- 
ment of Upper Canada held its session. New- 
ark was burned by the Americans on their re- 
treat, without reason, as the British claimed, 
and they immediately retaliated; for ten days 
108 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

later they surprised and captured Fort Niagara 
and burned every American village on the 
Niagara River, including Youngstown, Lewis- 
ton, Manchester (now Niagara Falls), Fort 
Schlosser, Black Rock, and Buffalo, spreading 
devastation along the American frontier. The 
year 1814 witnessed two battles in the vicinity 
of the Falls themselves, both on the Canadian 
side. Chippewa, a victory for the Americans, 
and Bridgewater or Lundy's Lane, claimed as 
a victory by both parties. The latter was one 
of the most remarkable conflicts recorded in 
history. Within sight of the Falls, in the glory 
of the light of a full moon, the opposing armies 
engaged in hand-to-hand conflict, from sun- 
down to midnight, when both sides, exhausted 
by their efforts, withdrew from the field. The 
British before dawn, and unopposed, reoccu- 
pied the battle ground, and on this alone rests 
their claim to victory. Later on the Ameri- 
can army occupied Fort Erie, which they had 
shortly before wrested from the British and 
where they were besieged by them. From 
this fort on the seventeenth of September, 
1814, the Americans made that famous and 

successful sortie, planned and led by Gen. 
109 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Peter B. Porter, whith disbanded the British 
besiegers, this being the only case in history, 
according to Lord Napier, where a besieging 
arrriy was entirely defeated and disbanded by 
such a movement. 

We necessarily omit all reference to many 
points along the river made famous by the ex- 
ploits, the daring, and often by the loss of life 
of the combatants in this war — points locally 
important in themselves but which have not 
risen to the dignity of that much-abused word, 
" history." 

The Treaty of Ghent restored peace to both 
countries and to the inhabitants on their ex- 
hausted frontiers. Under this treaty, com- 
missioners were appointed to locate the bound- 
ary line between Canada and the United 
States, already somewhat laxly provided for 
in the treaty of 1783. These commissioners 
agreed to run the boundary line along this 
frontier, through the middle of the Horseshoe 
Falls and through the deepest channel of the 
river, both above and below them. Thus 
Navy Island fell to the share of the Cana- 
dians and Grand Island became American 
soil. 



HI8T0BIG NIAGARA. 



LAND TITLES. 



We have already noted the cession of this 
region by the French to the EngHsh in 1763, 
and also the cession by the British of the east- 
ern side of the river to the United States at the 
close of the Revolutionary War, which joint 
occupation has never since been permanently 
disturbed. We also noted the cession by the 
Senecas to the British of the land on each side 
of the river, and of the islands to Sir William 
Johnson and by him to the English Crown. 

A strip of land one mile wide along the 
American shore from Lake Ontario to Lake 
Erie had been exempted when New York 
ceded the ownership of what is now the west- 
ern portion of this State to Massachusetts, 
which ownership New York subsequently re- 
acquired. Finally the Indians, who, in spite 
of their former cessions to England, still 
claimed an ownership, ceded to New York, 
for $1,000 and an annuity of $1,500, their title 
to all the islands in the Niagara River. The 
State of New York patented the mile strip to 
individuals commencing in the first decade of 
this century. 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 



FAMOU-S INCIDENTS. 



In the year 1824 Grand Island, which con- 
tains about eighteen thousand acres, was se- 
lected by Major M. M. Noah as the futur6 
home of the Jews of the New World. He pro- 
posed to buy the island, make of it a second 
Jerusalem, and within the sound of Niagara to 
build up an ideal community of wealth and in- 
dustry. In 1825, acting as the Great High 
Priest of the Project, clad in sacerdotal robes, 
attended in procession by the civic and mili- 
tary authorities, local societies, and a great 
concourse of people, with appropriate cere- 
monies he laid the corner-stone of his future 
City of Ararat on the altar of a Christian 
church in Buffalo. This corner-stone was 
subsequently built into a monument at White- 
haven on Grand Island, opposite the village of 
Tonawanda. It is now in the possession of 
the Buffalo Historical Society. Major Noah's 
plan fell through, as the Patriarch of Jerusalem 
refused his sanction to the project. 

THE ERIE CANAL. 

On October 26, 1825, a cannon boomed 
forth its greeting at Buffalo; a few seconds 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

afterward another cannon a short distance 
down the river caught up the sound, and so on, 
cannon after cannon, cannon after cannon, 
down the Niagara River to Tonawanda, thence 
easterly to Albany, thence down the bank of 
the Hudson to New York City, transmitting 
the message that at the source of the historic 
Niagara River the waters of Lake Erie had 
been let into that just completed water-way — 
the Erie Canal. 

Fort Niagara became a spot of national 
celebrity in 1826. William Morgan, a resi- 
dent of Batavia in this State, and a member of 
the Masonic fraternity, threatened to disclose 
the secrets of that body in print. He was 
quietly seized and taken away from his home. 
He was traced in the hands of his abductors to 
Fort Niagara, where he is said to have been 
incarcerated in one of the buildings in the fort, 
and to this day " Morgan's Dungeon " is one 
of the sights shown to visitors. He was never 
heard of after he entered the fort, and popular 
fancy says that he was taken from this dun- 
geon by night and drowned in Lake Ontario. 
Several persons were subsequently tried for 
his murder, but no proof of their complicity in 

8 113 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the matter, nor e¥en of Morgan's death, was 
produced. The principal episode in the fa- 
mous anti-Masonic agitation of that period 
thus became a part of Niagara's local history. 

THE PATRIOT WAR. 

In 1837 occurred what is known as the 
Canadian Patriot War. While the agitation 
of the Patriots centred in Toronto, it kept the 
entire Niagara frontier on the Canadian side 
in a ferment for several months, and Navy Isl- 
and became one of their rendezvous, a portion 
of the British troops being stationed at Chip- 
pewa. Without reference to the intrigues 
carried on along the frontier by the Canadian 
agitators with their American sympathizers, 
we deal only with the one important event 
known as the Caroline episode. It was openly 
charged tliat the Patriots were receiving sub- 
stantial aid from the American side, not only 
from private individuals, but also by reason of 
the non-intervention of National and State 
authorities, when they knew that arms were 
being shipped and material assistance rendered 
from American soil. So bitter was the feeling 
on the part of the Britishers, that when the 
114 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

opportunity offered, it is not surprising that 
they made the most of it. A small steamer, 
the Caroline, had been chartered by Buffalo 
parties to run between that city. Navy Island, 
where the insurgents were encamped, and 
Schlosser Landing on the American shore. 
According to their statement it was a private 
enterprise, started to make money by carrying 
excursionists to the insurgents' camp; but ac- 
cording to the Canadian view, her real busi- 
ness was to convey arms and provisions to the 
insurgents. On the night of December 29th, 
the Caroline lay at Schlosser's dock. The ex- 
citement had drawn large numbers of people 
there ; all the hotels were filled, and some peo- 
ple had sought a night's lodging on the steamer 
itself. At midnight six boatloads of British 
soldiers, sent from Chippewa by Sir Allan 
McNab, silently approached the Caroline, 
boarded and captured her, turned off all on 
board, cut her moorings, set her on fire, and 
towed her into the river. In the melee and 
exchange of shots, one man, Amos Durfee, 
was killed. The boat was burned to the 
water's edge and sank not far from where she 
had been cut adrift. 

115 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

. The affair caused intense excitement and 
was the source of long diplomatic correspon- 
dence, the British Government assuming full 
responsibihty for the claimed breaches of inter- 
national law, but finally apologizing for it. One 
man, Alexander McLeod, was arrested and 
tried in this State for manslaughter, and finally 
acquitted. 

THE FENIAN WAR. 

From the time of the Patriot War, with the 
exception of the Fenian Outbreak in 1866, the 
history of this region has nothing to do with 
international war. The Fenian Outbreak, 
similar in its inception so far as its hostility 
to the existing government of Canada and 
a desire to aid the Irish cause of home rule by 
inciting hostilities among Britain's colonies, 
was quickly suppressed. Of actual hostilities 
during that agitation there was but one occur- 
rence, known as the battle of Ridgeway, on the 
Canadian side in the vicinity of Buffalo, where 
the Fenians were defeated. 

COMMERCIAL HISTORY. 

In its commercially historic aspects, there 
stands out one important project in connec- 
116 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

tion with Niagara Falls which has been 
broached by its advocates in public and in pri- 
vate, and especially in the halls of Congress for 
the past three-quarters of a century. Al- 
though by international treaty, no war vessels 
are permitted on the upper lakes, in the line of 
Washington's famous aphorism, that " the 
best way to maintain peace is to be prepared 
for war," the advocates of a ship canal of a 
capacity large enough to float our largest ves- 
sels, connecting the Niagara River some two 
or three miles above the Falls with its quiet 
waters at Lewiston or below, have continued 
their agitations, and preliminary appropria- 
tions, and elaborate surveys — showing three 
or four routes — have been made by Congress 
at three different times. The project so far 
has made but little headway towards a success- 
ful consideration. Of its earliest commercial 
history, during the first years of the century, 
when private individuals bought the land from 
the State on account of its adjacent water 
power, and established here a village which 
they named Manchester; of the first utiliza- 
tion of a portion of its enormous power in re- 
cent years and of the present stupendous 
117 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

power development now nearing completion, 
we cannot treat for lack of space. The enor- 
mous development of power and its electrical 
transmission, with all that this has already 
added and will add to Niagara's history, are 
treated of elsewhere in this volume. - 

STATE RESERVATION AT NIAGARA. 

In 1885, after some years of public agitation, 
the State of New York acquired Goat Island 
and the territory on the river bank adjacent 
to the Falls and for a half-mile above them, 
dedicating it by its ownership as free forever 
to the world. The Province of Ontario in 
1888 took a similar course on the Canadian 
side, so that now the Falls themselves and the 
adjacent lands, under the ownership of two 
friendly nations, are forever preserved from 
any real defacement of their scenery by com- 
mercial enterprises. The honor of first sug- 
gesting this preservation of the scenery has 
been claimed by many persons. But the first 
real suggestion, though made without details, ' 
came from two Scotchmen, Andrew Reed and 
James Matheson, who in 1835, in a volume de- 
scribing their visit to the Congregational 
118 




THE MAID OF THE MIST. 
(Illustrating the Indian legend. — From a painting?) 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

churches of this country, first broached the 
idea that Niagara should " be deemed the 
property of civiHzed mankind." 

INDIAN LORE. 

This region is rich in Indian lore and tra- 
dition (which is Indian history) never yet thor- 
oughly collected. Commencing far back 
when the Neuter nation, or more probably 
an earlier race, dwelt hereabouts, they wor- 
shipped the Great Spirit of the Falls, their wor- 
ship culminating annually in the sacrifice of 
the fairest maiden of the tribe to the Great 
Spirit of Niagara, sending her over the Falls 
in a white canoe laden with fruits and flowers ; 
next, their inter-tribal wars ; later on, the tem- 
porarily successful but ultimately inevitable 
futile attempt of the Neuter nation to main- 
tain a neutral existence; the use of Goat Isl- 
and as the burying ground of great chiefs and 
warriors, and their adoration of the island be- 
cause of such use, and the subsequent annihila- 
tion of the Neuters as a distinct tribe by the 
Senecas, form an unwritten page of historic 

Niagara which will probably never be com- 
119 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

pleted with the accuracy that its importance 
demands. 

LOCAL HISTORY. 

To later local history in different aspects, we 
can only refer: To the engineering triumphs 
in the various bridges that span this river and 
the attendant benefits to this region; to the 
famous achievements of Blondin and others 
who have crossed the gorge on a rope ; to the 
trip made by the Maid of the Mist in 1861, 
under the guidance of Joel R. Robinson from 
Niagara to Lewiston — the only boat that has 
ever successfully done so — proving, so far as 
that portion of the river is concerned, what the 
courts have held, that the Niagara River 
throughout its entire length is a navigable 
stream ; to men who, like Francis Abbot, have 
associated their names with the Falls in one 
way, or like Captain Webb, with the Rapids in 
another way ; to the fall of Table Rock in 1850, 
showing to this generation the undermining 
process by which Niagara has cut the gorge; 
or to the numberless fatalities which have an- 
nually occurred, some by accident, some in- 
tentionally. 

120 



HISTORIC NIAGARA. 

Each of these in one way or another has 
tended to make history, and to point out Unes 
of thought whose deductions must benefit fu- 
ture generations, and to all these which are 
necessarily blended with Niagara's history, we 
can but refer in this way. 

Such, in outline, and with almost brutal 
brevity, is the foundation for that great work 
to which some master mind will some day 
devote its energies, and produce, to its own 
fame and to the benefit of international litera- 
ture, a work whose pages shall contain events 
as yet imperfectly recorded and whose subject 
may be the words of our title. Historic Niagara. 




bird's-eye view of NIAGARA RIVER. 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA 
FALLS. 

By Prof. N. S. Shaler, 

Dean of the Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard University. 

The effect of the more majestic spectacles of 
Nature is to turn the mind of the observer away 
from the philosophy of the events which he is 
observing. This is a natural and wholesome 
action of all splendid things; he is indeed un- 
happy who flies at once to speculation as to 
the cause of that which he for the first time 
freely beholds. There is, however, a second 
stage in the service which the great spectacles 
of the earth can do for us. This is where we 
seek to understand the ways in which the offer- 
ing is made to our souls. The well-trained 
naturalist, indeed any one who is attentive to 
the aesthetic as well as the rational opportuni- 
ties of the world, learns in a manner to com- 
bine these impressions which may come to him 
123 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

by instinctive appreciation and by knowledge. 
To him the beautiful and the magnificent are 
none the less moving because he sees them in- 
the perspective of history, or in the great as- 
semblage of causations. It is the fairest prov- 
ince of science to afford these accessories of 
understanding so that the beauty of Nature 
may make a deeper impression upon the mind 
of man. Its work should in no wise diminish 
our perception or esteem of the beautiful; it 
should in fact unite these motives with our 
ordinary thought. Therefore it seems fit that 
we should consider the lessons which may be 
derived from a study of this great waterfall. 

The first step towards the comprehension of 
any such feature as Niagara Falls should lead 
the student to an understanding of a general 
kind as to the range of the phenomena with 
which it is allied. We will, therefore, begin 
our inquiry by a brief consideration as to the 
various kinds of waterfalls, and the conditions 
which produce them. It is easy to recognize 
the truth that all streams tend to form con- 
tinuous and uninterrupted slopes down which 
their waters course from the highlands to the 

sea. It is to this principle, indeed, that we 
124 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

owe the fact that nearly all great rivers are 
freely navigable, and the most of the lesser are, 
for the greater part of their length, fit for small 
boats. Wherever we find a river in the tumult 
of a waterfall or of a cascade we readily note 
that it is steadfastly engaged in destroying the 
obstruction, and that, given geologic time 
enough, it will wear a channel down which its 
waters may glide quietly to the deep whence 
they came, and to which they inevitably re^ 
turn. If a new continent should be elevated, 
and rivers formed upon it, they would quickly 
develop a host of waterfalls. If the continent 
were high it would be a land of cascades. 
Gradually, as the land became older, these 
barriers in the way of the descending water 
would be worn away. With the formation of 
each mountain system, however, or with the 
occurrence of other accidents, such as those 
which are brought about by a glacial period, 
the paths of the streams would be disturbed, 
and the rivers would once again have to con- 
tend with obstructions which they seek to re- 
move. Philosophical geographers now recog- 
nize the fact that the presence of waterfalls in 
a country means that the topography is, in a 
125 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

geological sense, new; that the region has 
either recently been uplifted from the sea, or 
has, not long ago, undergone considerable 
revolutions, which have changed the shape of 
its surface. 

Among the many different conditions which 
produce cataracts, we may note the following 
groups, which include the greater part of these 
accidents : In mountain districts small streams 
gathering in the tablelands or upland valleys 
often encounter a precipice down which they 
find their way in successive leaps. The cliffs 
over which they tumble are not, as is the case 
at Niagara, the product of the stream's action, 
but have generally been formed by a fault or 
a break in the rocks, the strata on one side of 
the disruption having been lifted so that a wall- 
like escarpment is created. In other cases 
the valley has been deeply carved by a stream 
of fluid or of frozen water, a river or a glacier. 
Waterfalls of this nature, though rarely of 
great volume, afford the most beautiful and 
highest cascades in the world. Those of the 
Yosemite Valley, or of Lauterbrunnen, in 
Switzerland, are excellent examples of this 
kind. 

126 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

Wherever a stream, be it small or great, en- 
counters in its course conditions in which it 
passes from a hard to a soft rock, or rather 
we should say from strata which it does not 
easily attack to other deposits which are read- 
ily worn away, the change is commonly 
marked by a rapid or waterfall. This altera- 
tion may be due to any one of many causes. 
Commonly it is brought about by a dike, or 
fissure filled with volcanic rock, which lies 
across the channel of the river. In our lime- 
stone rocks an ancient coral reef, buried in the 
strata, may produce a considerable cascade. 
The Falls of the Ohio at Louisville are due to 
the fact that such an ancient reef lies athwart 
the path of that river. 

Along the seashore wherever the waves 
have carved, as they often do, an overhanging 
steep, the streams, which may originally have 
flowed down gently declining beds, tumble 
over precipices, sometimes falling, as on the 
north shore of the Island of Anticosti, directly 
into the ocean. In all such cases we may as- 
sume that the cliffs have been driven backward 
into the land by the effect of the surges. 

By far the commonest origin of waterfalls is 
127 



THE NIAQARA BOOK. 

to be found where horizontal stratified rocks 
arranged in alternating beds of hard and soft 
character are flowed over by a considerable 
stream. In these conditions the bed of the 
river is apt to lie on one of the hard layers upon 
which it courses until it cuts the layer through; 
then encountering the underlying soft mate- 
rials it quickly wears them away down to the 
level of the next resisting stratum, where the 
process is repeated, forming, it may be, a 
dozen steps of descent in the course of a few 
miles. Each of the " treads " of such a stair- 
way is apt to be many times as wide as the fall 
is high; but where the river has a great volume 
the down rush of water is apt to break up the 
lower-lying harder layers so that one great fall 
is produced. The reader will do well to see 
the beautiful system of step cascades known as 
Trenton Falls, where West Canada Creek de- 
scends from the highland about its source 
through a beautiful gorge of its own carving 
in many successive leaps. 

The foregoing brief story concerning the 
natural history of waterfalls has led us to the 
point where we may begin our inquiries con- 
cerning the genesis of Niagara. This fall be- 
128 





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TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

longs to the last-mentioned group of cascades, 
that in which the course of the river is deter- 
mined in a great measure by the diverse resist- 
ance which horizontally-imbedded rocks op- 
posed to the wearing action of the water. In 
order, however, to face the many interesting 
questions which this river and fall present to 
the naturalist, we must ask the reader at the 
outset to obtain a clear idea as to the condi- 
tions of the valley of the stream from the point 
where it leaves Lake Erie to that where it 
enters Lake Ontario. The ideal way to obtain 
this impression would be to view the country 
from the summit of a tower having a height 
of five hundred feet or more, standing at a 
point near the present line of the falls. It is 
indeed most desirable from the point of view 
of the teacher, as well as others who love wide 
views, that such a " coign of vantage " should 
be constructed. In passing, we may remark 
that such an outlook would enable the ob- 
server to command the whole field of nearly 
level country from lake to lake. The student 
would thus be able to perceive directly what he 
can only otherwise infer from the maps and 
bird's-eye views. Using, however, these last- 
130 



TEE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

named means of illustration, we readily ob- 
serve the following facts concerning the course 
of Niagara River. We follow the prevailing 
fashion in terming this stream a river. It is, 
in fact, a mere strait connecting two fresh- 
water seas, the one lying about three hundred 
feet above the other. 

Near its point of exit from Lake Erie the 
stream passes over a low uplift of the strata 
which somewhat interrupts its flow. A little 
way on in its path the tide is divided, enclosing 
a large island and some smaller isles. Its 
movement is slow, and in general the condition 
of the stream and its banks reminds one of the 
lower parts of a great river where it is about 
to enter the sea. The striking feature is that, 
from Lake Erie to Goat Island, the stream has 
no distinct valley. It has evidently done none 
of that downward carving which is so con- 
spicuous a feature in the work of all ordinary 
rivers where they flow at a considerable height 
above the ocean's level. In part this absence 
of a valley is to be accounted for by the abso- 
lute purity of the water. Ordinary rivers bear 
much sediment, the coarser parts of which are 
driven along the bottom, continuously though 
131 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

slightly wearing the bed-rock away as they rub 
over it; but in the Niagara all these sediments 
which the streams bring from the uplands-are 
deposited in the chain of the Great Lakes. 

At Goat Island the conditions are suddenly 
changed. In the rapids and in the main falls 
the river descends about two hundred feet into 
a deep gorge, through which it flows as far as 
Lewiston in a more or less tumultuous man- 
ner. At this point the channel passes through 
the escarpment which borders the southern 
margin of Lake Ontario. Here it ceases to 
flow as rapidly as before, the tide of waters 
finding ample room in the deep channel for a 
leisurely journey to the lower lake. 

The gorge of the Niagara, though deep, is 
very narrow; to the eye of the trained observer 
it appears almost as unlike an ordinary river 
valley as is the path of the stream above the 
cataract. Everywhere the \valls are steep; 
there is no trace of the alluvial plain which 
normally borders great rivers ; nor do we find 
the slope of country toward the edge of the 
cliff which is so characteristic of ordinary val- 
leys. This depression, indeed, is a true caiion, 
a trough carved by a main stream without any 
132 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

coincident work of erosion effected by the rain, 
frost, and water-courses operating on either 
side of its path. These features have led 
geologists, as they well may lead any intelli- 
gent observer, to the conclusion that the Niag- 
ara River is from beginning to end a new-made 
stream; a watercourse which originated not as 
most of our American rivers have in remote 
ages, but in the geological yesterday. The 
reason for this sudden coming into existence 
of the Niagara, the steps which led to its 
invention, are now undergoing a very careful 
discussion through the labors of several able 
geologists,* Although there is much which 
is still doubtful concerning the history of this 
singular stream, a great deal of interest has 
been well ascertained. The outlines of this 
matter we will now endeavor to set before the 
reader. 

In endeavoring to comprehend the history 

*The literature concerning the problems of the Niagara 
River is abundant, but widely scattered. The ablest single 
contribution to the subject is by Mr. G. K. Gilbert, Geologist 
U. S. Geological survey. It is contained in the sixth annual 
report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Ni- 
agara, for the year i88g. — Albany, James B. Lyon, Printer, 
i8go. References to various other treatises on the subject may 
be found in the foot-note of that paper. 
133 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

of Niagara, it is necessary to take account of 
the singular conditions presented by the great 
valley in which it lies. The St. Lawrence is 
on some accounts the most curious of all the 
great vales which geographers have had an 
opportunity to study. The most of the river- 
basins in the world have their boundaries de- 
fined by a considerable elevation. If, here and 
there, they have a low side over which we may 
pass to a neighboring valley without travers- 
ing a decided water-shed, the partial breach of 
the boundaries is very limited in its length. In 
the St. Lawrence valley, however, from the 
lower end of Lake Ontario to the mouth of 
Lake Superior, the basin on its southern side 
is but ill-defined. 

The low, broad ridge which separates the 
drainage from that of the streams which flow 
into the Hudson, or into the Mississippi, is 
frequently breached by depressions through 
which the waters belonging to the Great Lakes 
system may readily be discharged whenever 
their elevation is considerably altered, or when 
by chance a barrier is interposed to their exit 
through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Accidents 
of this description have been probably of fre- 
135 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

quent occurrence, so that from time to time 
the geographical relations of these waters have 
been greatly changed. 

The Great Lakes of the St. Lawrence valley 
were probably in existence before the last 
glacial period, though they were doubtless ex- 
tended and somewhat modified in form by the 
wearing of the rocks which occurred in that 
wonderful age. With the beginning of the 
glacial period the ice-sheet of eastern North 
America, which is now limited to Greenland, 
rapidly extended its bounds over the land to 
the northward of the Great Lakes. It soon 
filled their basins, and extended southward 
until its margin attained the Ohio River where 
Cincinnati now stands, and lay over the head- 
waters of all the valleys of the streams which 
pour from the South into the Great Lakes. It 
is easy to see that such an ice-sheet having the 
depth of a mile or more would profoundly dis- 
turb the drainage of these rivers. In its ad- 
vance it would first create a dam across the 
waters of the St. Lawrence River, compelling 
the lakes to rise until they discharged through 
some of the low places on their southern 
boundary; next it must have filled their basins 
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THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

with ice, and deepened the sheet until its sur- 
face lay thousands of feet above their floor. 
We cannot trace the history of these altera-, 
tions which the advance of the glacial envelope 
brought upon this field of land and water. But 
the steps in the alterations may be inferred 
from what happened when the envelope re- 
treated stage by stage until it vanished from 
the continent, or at least from the part of the 
field with which we are concerned. For a time 
the barrier lay in such a position that the 
waters of the lakes below Superior were 
barred out from the passage of Niagara, flow- 
ing over into the valley of the Ohio through 
a channel passing by the site of the City of 
Fort Wayne, and thence into the Wabash 
River. This old waterway has been preserved 
with unmistakable clearness. With the further 
retreat of the ice-front to the northeastward, 
the Hne of the barrier was withdrawn to near 
the present mouth of Lake Ontario, where it 
flows into the St. Lawrence River. At this 
time the level of the Great Lakes was lowered 
by successive stages, though on the whole 
rather suddenly, to the amount of five hun- 
dred and fifty feet. 

138 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

With the last mentioned condition of the ice- 
barrier the exit of the Great Lakes changed to 
a path which led through Central New York, 
down the valley of the Mohawk River. The 
channel still shows the marks* of the great tide 
of water, probably as great in its volume as 
that which now passes Niagara Falls. Those 
who journey by the New York Central Rail- 
way to and from Albany may note at Little 
Falls the broad gorge of the sometime great 
river which is now occupied by a relatively 
small stream. It might be supposed that at 
this stage the observer would have found the 
Niagara River flowing in somewhere near its 
present position. But here comes in one of 
the extraordinary accidents of that period of 
geographic wonders, the great Ice Age. 
When the ice lay over the country to the north 
of the Great Lakes, the part of the continent 
which it occupied appears to have been borne 
down by the weight of the mass in such a man- 
ner that it sloped to the northward at the rate 
of two or three feet to the mile. The result 
was that the basin of Lake Erie was to a great 
extent dry, and that of Lake Huron did not 
connect across to the southward through Lake 
139 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

St. Clair, but through Georgian Bay, and 
thence by a channel occupying the site of the 
Trent River to the northern part of Lake On- 
tario. At a yet later stage, when the ice-bar- 
rier was still further withdrawn, so that the 
channel of the St. Lawrence was open, another 
channel was found by way of the Ottawa 
River, so that the upper lakes no longer emp- 
tied by way of Lake Ontario. 

After the ice passed completely away from 
this part of the country, the land recovered 
from its southward down-tilting. Lake Erie 
regained its waters, and the tide from Lakes 
Michigan and Huron began to flow, as at pres- 
ent, by way of the Detroit River and Lake St. 
Clair. This was probably the age when the 
present Niagara River came into existence. 
We have already noted the fact that as a whole 
the valley of the Niagara, both above and be- 
low the Falls, appears to be a piece of stream- 
carving done in very modern times. Although 
it doubtless antedates the earliest chapters of 
human history of which we have any written 
records, it almost certainly is newer than the 
records of man which we find written in cer- 
tain ancient art-remains, such as those which 
140 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

were found with the Calaveras skull in Cali- 
fornia. The stream may have begun its work 
not more than ten thousand years ago. It 
appears, however, that there was a pre-glacial 
Niagara. 

If the reader will go to the clifif which bor- 
ders the lowland along the lake, a precipice 
carved at some period when Lake Ontario was 
higher than at present, and walk westward 
from the river, he will observe that at the town 
of St. David's, a few miles west of Queenston, 
the clififs turn inland in a way which indicates 
that here of old was a valley through which a 
great river found its way to the lake. Going 
southward to the site of the Whirlpool we find 
there a point where, and where alone, the 
steep rocky walls of the Niagara cafion fail, and 
their place is taken by heaps of drift material, 
evidently brought to its present site by the ice 
of the glacial time which here, as in many other 
regions, filled the pre-glacial valleys with de- 
tritus. In the opinion of those who have most 
attentively studied the problem, there was an 
old Niagara River extending a part of its chan- 
nel from St. David's to the Whirlpool, and 

probably from that point along much the same 
141 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

line as the present stream toward the existing 
Falls. It is possible, however, that this old 
channel may have bent away to the west from 
the Whirlpool, and attained Lake Erie at some 
unknown point. If the old channel entered 
the present Niagara gorge at the pool we have 
to assume that when the stream, long dispos- 
sessed by the glacier, was permitted again to 
flow, it found the channel to St. David's so 
completely filled that it was easier to plunge 
over the Queenston bluff at a new point, and 
thence in the retreat of the Falls to carve the 
cafion back to its present site. It may be that 
a part of the channel above the enlargement at 
the Whirlpool was also carved in the old pre- 
glacial days, filled in with glacial waste, and 
afterwards swept clear of the obstruction by 
the mighty stream. 

To the reader who has paid no attention to 
the geographic changes which were produced 
in the last ice time, such alterations in the path 
of a river may seem most improbable. The 
geologist, however, knows that these have 
been among the commoner incidents in this 
chapter of the earth's history. Hardly any of 
the considerable streams which existed within 
142 



TEE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

the glaciated field before the advent of the ice 
escaped such perturbation. We could in an 
a priori way predict that a stream lying in the 
position of the Niagara River, where the 
amount of glacial waste deposited on the sur- 
face was very great, would be so far effaced by 
detritus that when the tide again began to 
flow, a portion at least of its channel would de- 
part from its primitive position. In fact, 
among the many detailed inquiries which the 
geologist has a chance to make in the old 
glacial fields, there are few which are more 
interesting and, indeed, more perplexing than 
these which concern the relation of the ancient 
and existing river valleys. 

From this general and rather wide consider- 
ation of the Niagara problem, which has 
brought us in face of some of the majestic ac- 
tions of the past, we may now profitably turn 
to the detailed phenomena exhibited in the 
Falls and in the gorge between them and 
Queenston. The student will do well to begin 
these inquiries by a journey to the Cave of the 
Winds, where, penetrating behind a thin strip 
of the falling water, he can see something of 
the condition of the steep over which the cata- 
143 












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THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

ract plunges. He should also observe the 
rocks in the faces of the cliffs below the Falls. 
He will readily note the fact that the top of the 
precipice is occupied by a somewhat massive 
limestone. This rock is, it is true, divided by 
joints into large blocks, but these are hard, and 
are not much worn by the clean water which at 
the margin of the escarpment shoots clear of 
their face. 

Below this limestone, which is extensively 
developed in New York and in the adjacent 
parts of the continent, and which most prop- 
erly bears the name of " Niagara Limestone," 
there is a less considerable thickness of thin- 
layered shaley beds known as the " Niagara 
Shale." Yet below lie beds of the Clinton Age, 
composed of somewhat coherent limestone 
and shaley sandstone. At the base of the sec- 
tion of the Falls and steep, occupying more 
than half of its height, are the beds of the Me- 
dina formation, mostly made up of rather frail 
sandstones and thin reddish shaley layers. 
From what the reader can see in the Cave of 
the Winds, and what he can readily infer by 
observing the rocks bared in the cliffs near the 
Falls, he will readily understand that the Niag- 
lo 145 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ara Limestone is the rock which takes the 
brunt of the work required in maintaining the 
precipice down which its river plunges. He 
will see also that this hard edge of the cliff pro- 
jects beyond its base, thus giving free room for 
the fall to descend unbroken to the level of the 
stream below, and thence downward in the tu- 
mult of waters to the river bed to a greater 
depth than the visible face of the Falls. 

From time to time as abundant general ob- 
servations and accurate surveys show, the 
Niagara cornice of the wall is so far left un- 
supported by the more rapid wearing of the 
lower-lying softer beds that it breaks down by 
its own weight and falls in ruins to the base of 
the submerged cliff at the foot of the cascade. 
In this position we cannot see what becomes 
of the debris, but from what we may readily 
observe at other points we can make some in- 
teresting and trustworthy inferences. Along 
many rivers the student of such phenomena 
can find places where ancient cataracts have 
left their bases bare by the shrinkage or di- 
version of the streams which produced them; 
thus, at Little Falls on the Mohavv^k, which, as 
before noted, was once the path of exit of the 
146 



THE GEOLOaT OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

Great Lake waters, there was in the olden day 
a great cataract, the most of which is now 
above the level of the shrunken river. Here 
we find the rocks once trodden by the fall ex- 
cavated in great well-like " pot-holes," some of 
which are ten feet or more in diameter, and 
with more than that depth. Each of these 
cavities has evidently been carved out by the 
bits of hard rock which the stream brought 
into them, the fragments having been made to 
journey round and round in a circle, forming 
what is often a dome-shaped chamber, widen- 
ing toward its base. Such whirling move- 
ments of water may be observed in a miniature 
way where a stream from a hydrant falls into a 
basin. The base of the Niagara cliff is doubt- 
less under-cut in the manner above described, 
the graving tools being the hard fragments 
which fall from its upper parts. 

As we may behold in the Cave of the Winds, 
the whirlings of the water-laden air and jets of 
spray tend somewhat to soften and dissolve the 
layers of the shale, and thus to bring about 
that recession of the face which causes the 
limestone to jut beyond the base of the preci- 
pice. Beneath the level of the stream the vio- 
147 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

lent swayings of the tormented water, beaten 
by the strokes of the Falls, doubtless serve yet 
more effectively to erode the soft rocks of the 
Medina formations. These actions coopera- 
ting with the pot-holing work keep the cliff 
ever retreating at its base at a little greater 
rate than at its summit, the limestone capstone 
falling only when the excavation beneath de- 
nies it effective support. In the above de- 
scribed features Niagara Falls are in no sense 
peculiar. There are probably within two hun- 
dred miles of their site over fifty cascades 
which have been engendered and maintained 
by the same simple conditions of an upper hard 
layer and lower-lying more easily worn strata. 
It should be remarked, however, that the 
greater the height down which the plunge of 
water takes place, and the larger its volume, 
the more vigorous is the assault upon the base 
of the cliff through the development of pot- 
hole excavations and the lashing which the 
troubled waters apply to the rocks. But for 
the fact that the tide of Niagara, though of 
vast volume, is perfectly clean, the retreat of 
the Falls precipice towards Lake Erie would 
have been far more rapid than under the exist- 
148 



TUE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

ing conditions. If, in place of the marvellously 
pure lake water, the turbid stream of the Mis- 
sissippi poured down this steep, the scournig 
action of the tumult beneath the fall would 
produce a vast increase of erosion. In these 
assumed conditions it might well be that the 
observer would find some sorry remnant of 
this great cascade far to the southward of its 
present position, perhaps within the limits of 
what is now Lake Erie. The difference in the 
effect of pure and turbid water, when forced 
against hard rocks, may be judged by the fact 
that while a glass window may be washed with 
a hydrant stream for an indefinite period with- 
out mark of abrasion, a similar stream of very 
turbid water will in a short time bring about 
a noticeable scratching of the glass. 

We are now in a position to understand how 
it is that the Falls have cut their way back 
through the great distance which separates 
them from the Queenston bluff over which the 
river flowed when it was first made free to fol- 
low its present course. It is a fine tour of 
the imagination to conceive how in some day 
after the ice age, when the country had as- 
sumed the elevation and attitude which re- 
149 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

quired the development of the second Niagara 
River, the watexs broke over the barrier near 
Buffalo, sweeping across the gently sloping- 
country to the Queenston cHffs, there plung- 
ing down in what was at first a broken cataract 
rather than a fall, into the lowlands about On- 
tario, or it may have been directly into the 
waters of the lake, then more elevated than 
now. Very quickly the undercutting process 
above described must have converted the cata- 
ract into a vertical fall. In a few score years 
the process of retreat of the steep over which 
the water fell must have begun the excavation 
of the great gorge. It may help the reader 
to conceive the advance of the process to im- 
agine a great auger boring away upon some 
soft material, the tool while turning being 
drawn slowly across the surface. In the simili- 
tude, the whirling waters at the base of the cas- 
cade, with their armament of stones, represent 
the auger, and the wide field of strata which 
have been carved the material which is bored 
by the moving tool. 

For many years geologists, who are ever 
trying to measure the duration of the past, 
have endeavored to compute the time which 

ISO 




THE SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. ■ 

has elapsed since the excavation of the gorge 
below Niagara Falls began. It seemed at first 
likely that the time occupied in this great work 
might be reckoned in a somewhat definite way. 
Long ago it became evident that the Falls 
were slowly advancing up the river through 
the undermining of their base and the conse- 
quent crumbling of the overhanging limestone 
at the foot of the precipice. In 1842 Dr. 
James Hall made a careful map showing the 
position of the different parts of the Falls 
which were referred to monuments from which 
subsequent surveys could do work that would 
afford a basis for comparisons. A third of a 
century later another survey was made by 
officers of the U. S. Engineers. In 1886 Mr. 
.R. S. Woodward made yet another careful 
map of the region. It now appears, however, 
according to Mr. G. K. Gilbert, that one or 
more of these delineations is somewhat in 
error, for at certain places the outline of the 
front projects beyond the position indicated by 
Hall's survey. After a careful consideration 
of these discrepancies, Mr. Gilbert says: 
" Nevertheless a critical study, not merely of 
the bare lines on the chart, but also of the fuller 
151 



THE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

data in the surveyor's notes, leads to the belief 
that the rate of recession in the central part of 
the Horse Shoe Fall is approximately deter- 
mined, and that it is somewhere between four 
feet and six feet per annum. The amount of 
falling away at the sides of the Horse Shoe is 
not well determined, but this is of less import- 
ance, for such falHng away affects the width of 
the gorge rather than its length, and it is the 
length with which we are concerned." 

If we could assume that all the cutting of the 
gorge from the Falls to Queenston had been 
done since the stage in the retreat of the ice 
sheet when the river, as we now know it, began 
to flow, it would seem to be an easy matter to 
make an approximate computation as to the 
length of time which had been required to ef- 
fect the task. As yet, however, we must hesi- 
tate to make an assertion, and, following the 
example of Mr, Gilbert, regard the problem as 
one which demands a far more careful study 
than it has as yet received before a judgment 
can properly be given. It is in a high degree 
improbable that the rate of retreat in the last 
forty years is anywhere near an average of the 
movement since the excavation of the cafion 
153 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

began. Between the Falls and Queenston the 
rocks which have been cut through, though of 
a tolerably uniform nature, have here and 
there local peculiarities which may have 
greatly accelerated the rate at which the Falls 
have worked upstream. The height of the 
Falls has altered in this movement, and it is 
very probable that the volume of water may 
have been subjected to considerable changes 
through the alterations of climate which have 
attended the passing away of the glacial sheet. 
In addition to these evident sources of error 
there are others connected with the irregular 
tilting movements of this part of the continent 
which, as before noticed, have perturbed the 
drainage since the close of the time when the 
ice-sheet lay over the basin of the St. Law- 
rence. 

^ At present it is tolerably safe to reckon the 
rate of retreat of Niagara Falls at about five 
hundred feet in a century. The reader may, 
if he pleases, assume that this is a fair measure 
of the speed with which the cascade has 
worked back from the Queenston escarpment; 
but if he makes the computation he should re- 
gard it as amusing rather than Instructive 
154 



TEE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

work. It is evident, however, that in the course 
of a thousand years the Fall is likely to be 
about a mile nearer Lake Erie than it is at 
present. 

It is most probable that long before this 
planet has dispensed with the presence of man, 
and before any geological or geographical 
changes have effaced this land, the question 
will have to be met whether our successors 
shall permit the recession of the Falls to bring 
about the draining of Lake Erie and the ad- 
jacent waters. In the illumination of that 
time, indeed we may say in the light of our 
own, it will not appear difificult to arrest this 
natural development by which the recession of 
the cascade tends to drain away the lake from 
which its waters flow. New channels can be 
excavated which will divert the stream to some 
point on the line of the cafion where a fresh 
field of excavation can be provided for the 
cataract; or if it seems worth while, an excava- 
tion can be made beneath the stream at a point 
above the Falls, and a hard masonry support 
provided for the Niagara limestone, which, as 
we have noted, forms the cornice over which 
the water plunges. 

155 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

If we may judge the motives of the future 
by those of the present, the decision as to the 
eventual fate of Niagara will rest upon eco- 
nomic considerations. Such considerations, 
indeed, are likely in course of time, and that 
not long, to lead to the utilization of the vast 
amount of power which now goes to waste at 
this point. So long as the factory had to be 
placed near its water-wheel the demand for the 
energy of the Falls was not very insistent. If, 
however, as seems most likely, electricians de- 
vise means whereby the tide of force made 
available by this leap of waters can be carried, 
without too much loss, to points five hundred 
miles or more away, we may find New York 
and Chicago, and a hundred other places, ask- 
ing for a share of the energy which here goes 
to waste. It is indeed most likely that the ar- 
rest in the southward march of Niagara will be 
brought about by the diversion of its waters 
to the turbines which drive dynamos. 

The foregoing considerations may make it 
evident to the reader that Niagara Falls should 
not be viewed as a mere spectacle. They 
should be taken as majestic natural phenomena 
which throw light on many important chapters 
156 



TEE GEOLOGY OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

in the history of our continent. It is indeed 
doubtful if at any other place in the world the 
mind stimulated by a majestic scene is so 
naturally led to inquiries full of learned as well 
as of human interest. 



157 



THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF 
NIAGARA FALLS. 

By David F. Day. 

The traveller, w^ho seeks for exhibitions of 
the grander forces of nature, v^ill find his 
wishes abundantly gratified at Niagara. The 
fall of the v\^aters of one of the greatest rivers 
of the world over a precipice of more than one 
hundred and fifty feet in height, and the con- 
stantly growing record of their power to chan- 
nel through the enduring rock, will prove to 
him an absorbing, yet perplexing, subject for 
study. But the tourist, who takes enjoyment 
in the shadows of a forest, almost unchanged 
from its natural condition, in the stateliness 
and symmetry of individual trees planted by 
the hand of Nature herself, in the beauty and 
fragrance of many species of flowers growing 
without cultivation and in countless numbers, 
in the ever-varying forms and hues of foliage, 
and in the continually shifting panorama of 
158 




Photograph by H. Wilson Saunders. 
SPRINGTIME AT NIAGARA. 



TEE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

the animated creation so near the scenes of 
human activity and occupation and yet so free 
from their usual effects, will find upon the bor- 
ders of the river, within its chasm and on the 
islands which hang upon the brink of the 
great cataract, an abundant gratification of his 
taste and an exhaustless field for study. 

To such a person — to all, in fact, who realize 
how ennobling it is to the heart of man to be 
brought at times face to face with Nature, 
whether in her beauty or her sublimity — it 
must always be the source of profound satis- 
faction to know that by the wise and liberal 
policy of the State of New York and the Do- 
minion of Canada so large an area of country 
contiguous to the river and the Falls has been 
made a public property, and, placed forever 
beyond the reach of vandal hands, is now dedi- 
cated, for all time, to the highest and most 
exalted purposes. 

Although in this volume a chapter has been 
devoted to the geology of Niagara, by one 
abundantly qualified for the task, nevertheless, 
for a proper presentation of the Natural His- 
tory of the Falls and of the region of which it 
is the centre, a passing glance should here be 
159 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

bestowed upon the geological record of Goat 
Island and the river within whose embrace it 
lies, to bring out more clearly the relation to 
it of its Fauna and Flora. For this purpose it 
is not necessary to explore the measureless 
periods of time in which the imagination of the 
geologist is accustomed to range at will. It 
is demonstrable that in a scientific sense the 
Island itself is of a trifling antiquity. In fact 
it would be difficult to point out in the western 
world any considerable tract of land more re- 
cent in its origin. 

There is every evidence to believe that the 
Niagara River has excavated its enormous 
chasm since the close of the period known to 
geologists as the Glacial Age. Whether before 
the coming on of the Glacial Age the upper 
lakes were connected or not with Lake On- 
tario (a proposition which seems to be well 
received in the geological world), it seems very 
certain that thereafter Lake Erie, Lake Huron 
and Lake Superior sent their waters to the sea 
through an outlet which Lake Michigan then 
had into the Mississippi. A barrier not greater 
than fifty feet in height would suffice, even to- 
day, to reverse the current of Lake Erie and 

i6o 



THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

Lake Huron and compel the discharge of their 
contents into the Mississippi, either by re- 
opening the old, abandoned channel at the 
head of Lake Michigan or by forming a new 
one. The barrier, which was broken down at 
the time, when in fact the physical history of 
the Niagara River began, may be pointed out 
with reasonable certainty to-day. A ridge 
near the foot of Lake Erie, which at one time 
extended in an eastward and westward course, 
crossing the present channel of the Niagara 
River, was that barrier. On either side of the 
river it attains a height of sixty or seventy feet 
above the present level of Lake Erie. It is 
almost unnecessary to say that this barrier was 
of glacial origin — an immense moraine. From 
its base, on the northerly side, to the verge of 
the cliff at Lewiston and Queenston, where the 
cataract began its work of erosion, the surface 
of the underlying rock rises steadily. At the 
summit of the clifif at Lewiston and Queenston, 
it has an elevation of thirty-two feet above the 
present level of Lake Erie. 

It is fair to assume that although the lake 
(or river), after its irruption through this bar- 
rier, spread widely, yet that the beginning of 

II , i6i 



^HE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the excavation of the chasm at Lewiston was 
not long delayed. 

Along the entire length of the river frorji 
Lake Erie to Lewiston and Queenston, the 
terraces left by the river, as from time to time 
it deepened and narrowed its channel, may be 
easily recognized. Often they show evidence 
that they were formed at the bottom of the 
river before the chasm had been excavated, 
being very largely composed of water-worn 
stones and materials, brought and deposited by 
the river itself from more southerly localities. 

Goat Island is of this origin. It is in fact a 
portion of such a terrace. In a single place 
upon the island there is to be seen a small 
quantity of clay, possibly deposited by the 
glacier where it is found, but more likely to 
have been brought by the current of the river 
along with the other materials which make up 
the soil. Mixed with the soil of Goat Island 
and with that of the river terraces in other 
places, there may be seen an abundance of the 
half-decomposed remains of fiuviatile and la- 
custrine Mollusca — shell-fish, univale, and bi- 
valve, identical in species with those still liv- 
ing in the lake and river. 
162 



THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

The period which has been employed by the 
river in the excavation of the chasm below the 
Falls, has, for more than half a century, been a 
most interesting study for the geologist. As 
early as 1841, Sir Charles Lyell, preeminent 
in his day as a geologist, from such data as he 
was then able to command, computed the time 
necessar)'- for the work at no less than 35,000 
years-. Later geologists have sought, but un- 
successfully, to reduce the period. When, 
however, the island appeared above the river, 
substantially as it now is, presents a more diffi- 
cult problem; but that the deposit of the ma- 
terials of which its soil is composed, began as 
soon as the irruption of the river through the 
moraine, at the foot of Lake Erie, was accom- 
plished, can scarcely be doubted. That 35,- 
000 years have passed since the shells found 
on the island and in the terraces on either side 
of the river were deposited, and that no spe- 
cific difference is to be discovered between 
them and their existing representatives and 
progeny, are facts full of interest to the evolu- 
tionist. 

A calcareous soil, enriched with an abund- 
ance of organic matter, like that of Goat Isl- 
163 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

and, would necessarily be one of great fertility. 
For the growth and sustentation of a forest, 
and of such plants as prefer the woods to the 
openings, it would far excel the deep and ex- 
haustless alluviums of the Prairie States. 

For the preservation of so large a part of the 
native vegetation of the island we must be 
thankful to the policy of its former owners, 
who, through so many years, kept it mainly in 
the condition in which Nature left it. To the 
naturalist, the hand of cultivation is often the 
hand of devastation. It has happily been 
spared, to a large extent, the ravage of the 
axe and plough, and from the still more com- 
plete spoliation which comes from the pas- 
turage of horses and cattle. It would be very 
difficult to find within another territory, so re- 
stricted in its limits, so great a diversity of 
trees and shrubs — still more difficult to find, 
in so small an area, such examples of aboreal 
symmetry and perfection as the island has to 
exhibit. 

From the geological history of the island, as 

has thus been told, it would be inferred that it 

had received its Flora from the mainland. 

This, no doubt, is true. In fact the botanist is 
164 



THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

unable to point out a single instance of tree, 
or shrub, or herb, now growing upon the isl- 
and, not also to be found upon the mainland. 
But, as has been remarked, the distinguishing 
characteristic of its Flora is not the posses- 
sion of any plant elsewhere unknown, but the 
abundance of individuals and species which the 
island displays. 

There are to be found in Western New York 
about one hundred and seventy species of trees 
and shrubs. Goat Island and the immediate 
vicinity of the river near the Falls can show of 
these no less than one hundred and forty. 

Of our trees producing conspicuous flowers, 
such as the Cucumber-tree {Magnolia acumi- 
nata) and the Tulip-tree {Liriodendron tulipi- 
fera), there are but few specimens in the vicin- 
ity of the Falls. Abbe Provancher found the 
former growing at or near Clifton, and one 
magnificent specimen of the latter may be 
pointed out on Goat Island. In the reforesta- 
tion of the denuded portions of the island, due 
observance to the planting of these beautiful 
American trees should be had. 

Four Maples are represented upon the isl- 
and: Acer saccharinum, A. rubrum, A. dasy- 
165 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

carpum and A. spicatum. The first of these, 
the Sugar-maple, is perhaps the most abund- 
ant tree upon the island. Five species of 
Sumach (Rhus) grow upon the island or along 
the margin of the river. Our native Plum 
(Prunus Americana) and two Cherries (Pru- 
nus Virginiana and P. serotina) belong either 
to the island or the mainland, the latter, the 
Black-cherry of the lumberman, attaining 
upon the island a wonderful development. 
Near the gorge of the river, on either side, but 
not upon the island, the Crab-apple (Pyrus 
coronaria) abounds, diffusing in the early 
days of June its unequalled fragrance upon 
the air. 

Three species of Thorn (CratcBgus coccinea, 
C. tomentosa and C. Crus-gaUi) are to be met 
with upon Goat Island, adding in May and 
June no small part to the floral magnificence 
of the season. Six species of Cornel, includ- 
ing the flowering Dog-wood (Cornus Uorida) ; 
two Elders (Sambucus Canadensis and vS. pu- 
bens) and six Viburnums (V. Opidus, V. aceri- 
folium, V. piibescens, V. dentatum, V. nudum, 
and V. Lentogo), either on the island or the 
mainland, contribute greatly, in the spring and 

i66 



THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

summer months, to enlarge and diversify the 
display. 

To find the Sassafras one must go down 
along the river as far as the Whirlpool. He 
will there meet with it, but not in profusion, 
on either side of the river. Our other native 
laurel, the Spice-wood (Lindera Benzion), is to 
be found handsomely represented on Goat 
Island. 

Two species of Ash, the white and black 
{Fraximus Americana and F. sambucifolia), are 
among the trees of the island, and are to be 
met elsewhere in abundance. 

The only species of Linden or Bass-wood, 
which belongs to the vicinity, is the familiar 
one, Tilia Americana. It is plentiful upon the 
island, and of extraordinary size and beauty. 

Of nut-producing trees the following occur : 

The Butternut (Juglans cinerea), the Black 
walnut (/. nigra), the white Hickory (Carya 
alba), the hairy Hickory (C. tomentosa), the 
pig-nut Hickory (C. porcina) and the bitter 
Hickory (C amara), the Beech {Fagus ferru- 
ginea), the Chestnut (Castanea vulgaris), the 
white Oak (Qnercus alba), the post Oak (Q. 
obtusiloba), the Chestnut-oak (Q. Muhlenbergii), 
167 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the Bur-oak (Q. macrocarpa), the dwarf Chest- 
nut-oak (Q. prinoides), the red Oak (Q. rubra), 
the scarlet Oak {Q. coccined), the Quercitron- 
oak (Q. tinctoria), and the Pin-oak (Q. palus- 
tris). 

Two species of Elm (Ulmus Americana and 
t/, fulva), three Birches (Betula lenta, B. lutea 
and 5. papyracea), one Alder {Alnus incana), 
six native Willows {Salix nigra, S. lucida, S. 
discolor, S. rostrata, S.petiolaris and 6". cor data), 
and four Poplars (Populus tremuloides, P. 
grandidentata, P. monolifera and P. balsamifera 
V. candicans), are embraced within the Sylva of 
Niagara. 

Of the cone-bearing family the number of 
species is not as great as might be expected. 
They are only six, distributed in five genera, 
as follows : 

The White-cedar {Thuja occidentalis), the 
most abundant of the evergreens at Niagara; 
the Red-cedar (Juniperus Virginiana), unfortu- 
nately disappearing; the Juniper (J. communis), 
the American Yew or Ground-hemlock {Taxus 
haccata v. Canadensis), the White-pine {Pinus 
Strobus), and the common Hemlock-spruce 
(Tsuga Canadensis). The two last named spe- 

i68 



THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

cies are not as plentiful upon the island as 
their beauty demands. They should be at 
once, and largely, replanted. 

Of the herbs, producing showy flowers, 
which are to be found upon the island, the fol- 
lowing may be mentioned, which by their 
profusion as well as beauty, make it in spring- 
time and early summer a natural flower- 
garden, wild indeed, but wonderfully beauti- 
ful: 

Our two Liverworts or Squirrel-cups (He- 
patica acutiloba and H. triloba), scarcely distin- 
guishable from one another, except by the leaf, 
but of an infinite variety of color. 

The dioecious Meadow Rue (Thalictrum 
dioicum), more noticeable because of the pecu- 
liar beauty of its foliage than its conspicuous- 
ness of flower — it is as graceful as a fern. 

The wild Columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis), 
to be found on the island, yet more abundantly 
along the chasm, where it displays its elegant 
blossoms of scarlet and gold, far beyond the 
reach of the most venturesome. 

The May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum), a 
plant singular both in flower and leaf, but 
beautiful and always arresting attention. 
169 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

The Blood-root (Sangiiinaria Canadensis), a 
plant lifting up its large, clear white flower and 
its solitary leaf in the early days of spring. 

Squirrel-corn and Dutchman's breeches 
(Diclytr a Canadensis and D.cucullaria). Strange 
plants, but of great gracefulness and beauty. 
Abundant on the island early in May; the 
former species, rich with the odor of hyacinths. 

Of the spring-flowering Cruciferce to be 
found upon the island, the following deserve 
to be mentioned as notable for their abundance 
and beauty: The Crinkle-root (Dentaria di- 
phylla), the Spring-cress (Cardamine rhom- 
boidea, v. purpurea), and the Rock-cress (^ra&w 
lyrata). 

As many as four violets abound upon the 
island and its vicinity, adding their charms to 
the beauty of the month of May — Viola cucul- 
lata, V. rostrata, V. piibescens, and V. Canaden- 
sis, the last, remarkable among the American 
species, for its fragrance as well as graceful- 
ness. 

The Spring-beauty (Claytonia Caroliniana), 

the large, native Cranesbill {Geranium macida- 

tum), the Virginian Saxifrage {Saxifraga Vir- 

giniensis), the two Mitre-worts {Tiarella cordi- 

170 



THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

folia and Mitella diphylla), the spreading Phlox 
{P. divaricata), the creeping Greek Valerian 
(Polemonium reptans), now rather rare; the 
American Dog-tooth, Violet, or Adder's- 
tongue (Erythronium Americanum), the large- 
flowered Bell-wort {Uvularia grandiHord), the 
Indian Turnip {Ariscema triphylla), 2ind the two 
Trilliums (T. grandiUorum and T. erectum), add 
largely to the spring contingent of attractive 
and conspicuous plants. 

Later in the season, one may find the 
shrubby St. John's Wort (Hypericum Kalmia- 
mim), and one of the most graceful species of 
Lobelia (L. Kalmii), each rejoicing in a damp 
situation, and each, quite probably, discovered 
at the Falls, by Bishop Kalm, nearly a century 
and a half ago, and introduced by him from 
that locality to the notice of the botanical 
world. The name of the discoverer of these 
interesting plants is worthily commemorated 
in those which the great Linnaeus bestowed 
upon them. 

The summer time brings forward many at- 
tractive forms — the Grass of Parnassus {Par- 
nassia Caroliniana), the Painted-Cup (Castilleia 
coccinea), an occasional lily, an orchid or two, 
171 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

but of no great beauty, the Hare-bell (Cam- 
panula rotundi folia), and a large array of an- 
nuals. 

Nor is the autumnal Flora of Goat Island 
uninteresting. Golden-rods {Solidago sp.), 
Sun-flowers (Helianthus sp.), Star-flowers 
(Aster sp.), the Downy Thistle (Cnicus dis- 
color), and, at last, the triumph of October and 
of the dying year, the shorn Gentian (Gentiana 
detonsa), its graceful blossoms as blue as the 
summer skies. 

In the region of the Falls, but not upon Goat 
Island itself, some plants of great beauty have 
been detected. Below the Whirlpool, two 
species of Bluets or Innocence (Houstonia 
ccBvulea and H. purpurea) are to be observed, 
the rare Liatris cylindracea, Apocynum andro- 
scemifolium, the orange-colored Milkweed 
(Asclepias tuaerosa), the Fire-lily (Lilium Phila- 
delphicum), the large, yellow Lady's Slipper 
(Cypripedium pubescens), the beautiful, low- 
growing Morning Glory (Convolvulus spitha- 
mcEUs), 2ind wild Roses, as fragrant as beautiful. 

The ferns of Goat Island and the region of 
the Falls are numerous. Among them may 
be mentioned: The Ostrich-fern (Onoclea 
172 



TEE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

Struthiopteris), the Sensitive-fern (0. sensiblis), 
the Royal-fern {Osmunda regalis), the Inter- 
rupted-fern (0. interrupta), the Cinnamon-fern 
(0. cinnamomea), the Bladder-fern (Cystopteris 
bulbiferaj, Shield-ferns of various species {As- 
pidium Noveboracense, A. Thelypteris, A. spinu- 
losum, A. cristatum, A.Goldianum,A.marginale, 
A. Lonchitis), and the Christmas-fern {A.achro- 
stichoides) ; the Beech-fern (Phegopteris Dryop- 
teris), only found at the Devil's Hole; the 
Walking-fern (Camptosorus rhysophyllus), four 
Spleen-worts (Asplenium Trichomanes, A. ebe- 
M^wm, abundant at Lewiston, A.achrostichoides, 
and A. Filix-fosmind), scarcely to be excelled 
in grace by any species; two Cliff-brakes {Pel- 
Icca gracilis and P. atropurpurea), the Common- 
brake, world-wide in its distribution (Pteris 
aquilina); the American Maiden-hair (Adian- 
tum pedaHim), and the common Polypody 
(Polypodium vulgare), peering, in many places, 
over the edge of the chasm into the depths 
below. 

Of the Fauna of Niagara very much cannot 
be said. All the larger Mammalia, which 
abounded in the region whilst it was still the 
possession of the red man, have long since dis- 

173 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

appeared. It seems almost as though they 
could never have resorted, habitually, to Goat 
Island. The access to it of the elk, the red- 
deer, the bear, the panther, the lynx, the fox, 
and the wolf, common enough in the neigh- 
borhood, must always have been difficult, and 
their return to the mainland almost impossible. 
At the present time the quadrupeds inhabit- 
ing the island are probably only three, the 
Black-squirrel, the Red-squirrel, and the 
Striper-squirrel or Chipmunk. These may be 
seen, almost any spring or summer day, dis- 
porting themselves, without regard to the 
presence of man, in their leafy coverts. 

The birds affecting the island and the gorge 
are not to be distinguished, in species, from 
those of the mainland. But, as would be ex- 
pected, environment makes some species rare 
and others plentiful. The Robin {Turdus 
migratorious), the Oriole (Icterus Baltimore), 
the Blue-bird {Sialia Wilsonii), and the Gold- 
finch {Carduelis tristis), find so much of their 
food supply in door yards and cultivated land, 
that they are to be seen less frequently upon 
the island, or within the gorge, than elsewhere 
in the neighborhood. On the other hand, 
174 



TEE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

birds of the deep and silent woods, like the 
Vireos, Wilson's Thrush (Turdus fuscescens), 
the Wood-thrush {Turdus mustelinus), and the 
Cat-bird (Mimus Carolinensis), are almost al- 
ways to be seen and heard in the vicinity of the 
Falls or river. 

Birds of the crow family, such as the com- 
mon Crow, the Purple Crackle, and the Blue- 
jay were probably, at one time, plentiful; but 
they are now rarely seen, except as they are 
passing over from one side of the river to the 
other. Our common hawks may be included 
in the same remark. 

Summer or winter, numerous gulls may be 
seen hovering over the river, between its high 
banks, below the Falls. 

Late in the autumn, after other birds have 
taken their flight in the thick spray of the 
Red-cedars, great flocks of Cedar-birds (Am- 
phelis cedrorum) are to be noticed, feeding so- 
cially upon the plentiful sweet berries of the 
tree. Probably they remain until the supply 
of food is exhausted. 

The Bald-headed Eagle (HalicFtus leucoce- 
phalus) was once a frequenter of the region of 
the cataract, but is now seldom seen. Prob- 
175 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ably he has learned to be wary and not un- 
necessarily to expose himself to the aim of the 
collecting naturalist. But, however that may 
be, without doubt the waters below the Falls 
were once a favorite resort to him. He was a 
devourer of fish, and, although powerful of 
claw and pinion, he did not disdain to save his 
strength by feeding upon such as had been 
killed or stunned in their passage over the 
Falls. 

Of the birds of our region, which seem to 
fear the presence of man, and therefore retire 
to the unfrequented woods, it may be said that 
they are really plentiful in the shady nooks 
and recesses with which the gorge of the river 
abounds. The naturalist who would wish to 
make them a study, can do so satisfactorily, if 
he will but enter the woods at the Whirlpool 
or at Foster's Flat and patiently and quietly 
await their appearance. It is hardly possible 
that such a retiring species as the Indigo-bird 
(Cyanospisa cyanea) will fail to reward his 
watchfulness, or that a Scarlet Tanager (Py- 
ranga rubra) will not soon flash like a meteor 
before his eyes. Likely enough the King- 
fisher (Ceryle Alcyon) will leave his silent perch 
176 



TEE FLORA AND FAUNA OF NIAGARA FALLS. 

and with a harsh cry dart down upon his scaly 
prey. Here, where the thick leaves make a 
twilight, even at midday, the attentive ear of 
• the student of our birds will listen, with de- 
light, to the bell-like notes of the Wood-thrush 
or the sweet cadences of the Cat-bird's real 
song. 



177 



THE UTILIZATION OF 
NIAGARA'S POWER. 

By Coleman Sellers, E.D., Sc.D., etc. 

If, when contemplating the grandeur of the 
Cataract of Niagara, we consider for a moment 
the energy represented by the enormous body 
of water as it falls into the gorge below, the 
question naturally suggests itself what this 
force must be, measured by the standards with 
which we are familiar, or, in other words, what 
would be the actual power of the Falls if all of 
the water passing from it could be utilized. 

One computation places this total power at 
an amount so great that the world's entire 
daily output of coal would be barely sufificient 
as fuel to generate steam for operating pumps 
capable of returning to the level of the upper 
rapids the water which is discharged over the 
Falls into the lower river. The difference in 
level between the still waters above the upper 
rapids in the river and the gorge below is 
178 




THE GORGE ROAD. 




Photographs by Arnold. 



THE GORGE NEAR LEWISTON. 



TEE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

about 21 6 feet, and knowing this we could esti- 
mate the power of the Falls could we but de- 
termine accurately the amount of water which 
passes over it in any given time. To be sure, 
such measurements have been made, but as 
they were based on the mean velocity of the 
stream under ordinary conditions they are not 
altogether reliable, as the velocity is known to 
vary considerably, and is even materially af- 
fected by the direction and force of the wind. 
To arrive at any approximately correct esti- 
mate, therefore, the measurement should ex- 
tend over a very considerable period of time, in 
order to embrace all of the variations in the 
velocity and volume of the water passing down 
the river at any given point, but from the data 
now available the total energy that the Falls 
may be assumed to represent has been esti- 
mated as about five million horse-power. 

We have long been in the habit of associat- 
ing Niagara Falls with its attractions as a 
pleasure resort, and as one of the world's won- 
ders, but from early times its power has been 
utilized, to a limited extent to be sure, and in- 
dustries have existed along the rapids above 
the Falls certainly as early as 1725, when a 
179 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

sawmill was in use cutting timber for Fort Ni- 
agara. These early mills were located on the 
river bank at points where the greatest fall or 
head of water could be obtained, the water 
being led to the wheels by a race from a con- 
venient point up stream, and then carried ofif 
when used by the most direct course again to 
the river. This is a method commonly em- 
ployed in utilizing the flow of streams wher- 
ever artificial or natural conditions permit the 
development of power by means of falling 
water. Therefore, in 1847, when Mr. Augustus 
Porter, who owned most of the land now oc- 
cupied by the city of Niagara Falls, outlined a 
plan upon which the so-called hydraulic power 
canal was projected, he adopted this recog- 
nized method as conforming to the best prac- 
tice at the time, and planned to carry the water 
from above the upper rapids to the edge of the 
gorge below the Falls, to be utilized by mills 
located at that point. A company now known 
as the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and 
Manufacturing Company was organized, and, 
while the canal was virtually finished in 1861, 
it remained unused until 1870, when Mr. 
Charles B. Gaskell built a small flouring mill 
180 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

on the site of the well-known group of larger 
buildings which have since formed a conspicu- 
ous feature of the gorge below the State Res- 
ervation. 

The canal when first opened was but 36 feet 
in width and 10 feet in depth from the surface 
of the water. In addition to the grant giving 
a right of way 100 feet wide through what is 
now a populous portion of the city, property 
was obtained amounting to about 75 acres, 
with a frontage of nearly a mile on the high 
bluff overlooking the river below the Falls. 
Here the forebay or distributing basin was 
located at a level of about 214 feet above the 
surface of the lower river, and from this point 
the canal extends 4,400 feet in length across 
the town to its intake at the upper river just 
above the rapids leading to the American 
Falls. 

Of late years the canal has been enlarged at 
its upper end to the full limit of the right of 
way, and this improvement is being extended 
over as much of its length as can be widened 
under existing conditions. 

In addition to the mills on the high bank of 
the gorge, a power house has been erected at 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the lower river's edge to take advantage of the 
fall from the surface of the canal above, and 
the present and prospective power available is. 
estimated as follows, according to a recent 
pubHcation : 

By electrical transmission . . . 19,037 H,-P. 
By mechanical transmission . . . 360 " 

By hydraulic power used by five tenants . 7,000 " 

Total 26,397 " 

Many years ago when the late Thomas 
Evershed was a division engineer of the State 
of New York, he advocated a plan for the de- 
velopment of power at Niagara Falls in which 
it was proposed to utilize a tunnel as a tail race 
to carry ofif both water and sewage, a plant to 
be constructed by a corporation organized to 
furnish power to manufacturing industries lo- 
cated on the level land east of the city, a mile 
above the Falls. 

Interest having been revived in this method 
of utilizing the power of the Falls, about the 
year 1889 prominent capitalists became iden- 
tified with a plan of development which con- 
templated placing the water wheels and tur- 
bines in pits to be supplied by short canals and 
182 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

connected with a tunnel tail race and looking 
to the establishment of an industrial centre 
such as at Lowell, Fall River, Holyoke, and 
other places where power development is under 
the control of power companies. Prior to this 
time the state of the arts and industries had 
not created a sufficient demand for water 
power to warrant undertaking the develop- 
ment at Niagara Falls on a scale beyond what 
had been already attempted, nor was it until 
the last decades of the 19th century that im- 
provements in the generation and transmis- 
sion of electricity gave any marked encourage- 
ment to its use in this connection. To under- 
stand the value of the Evershed method of 
utilizing water power, it must be remembered 
that in the case of a long surface canal or head 
race, a hydraulic slope must be secured in 
order to establish a current of the required 
velocity. If such, a canal, discharging into a 
forebay or reservoir at its lower end, is not 
provided with means for regulating the 
amount of water passing through it, the con- 
stant flow due to the hydraulic slope, if not 
fully utilized by the wheels, must overflow at 
the sluice way or weirs. This involves a waste 
183 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

of water and power beyond what is utilized at 
the wheels, equal to that which is overflowing 
at the weir. When, however, there is but a 
short surface canal requiring no overflow and 
used in connection with a tunnel tail race, the 
only flow of water into the tunnel is that actu- 
ally required by the wheel for the development 
of the power being used. 

Proceeding on the lines of the plan above 
indicated, it was proposed, in reviving the 
Evershed scheme, to establish a central station 
to generate electric power for transmission to 
a distance, around which would cluster indus- 
tries, each of which would be provided with its 
own hydraulic power plant supplied from 
short canals, and discharging the water from 
the wheels into a common tail race tunnel. To 
carry out the purposes of this enterprise the 
Cataract Construction Company was organ- 
ized to undertake the work of construction for 
the Niagara Falls Power Company, which 
then had a charter, franchises, and options on 
two hundred acres of real estate. Cooperat- 
ing with these companies, the Niagara Devel- 
opment Company, the Niagara Junction Rail- 
way, and the Niagara Falls Water Works 
184 



THE UTILIZATION OP NIAGARA'S POWER. 

Company were organized, and these allied in- 
terests secured land controlling a river front of 
over two and a half miles, and with railroad 
communication with the several Trunk Lines 
passing through the city. 

The first work of importance was the con- 
struction of the tunnel, which has a total length 
of a little over one and a quarter miles, and ex- 
tends in a direct line from the north end of the 
power house, located between Buffalo Avenue 
and the river above the upper rapids, and 
passes under the Hydraulic Canal and the 
business portion of the city of Niagara Falls 
without affecting any portion of the ground 
or the thickly built-up section of the city over 
it. The upper end of the tunnel is 150 feet 
or more below the inlet canal at the power 
house, and from this it slopes gradually in its 
course toward the long river, where its portal 
may be seen at the water's edge a short dis- 
tance below the new steel arch bridge and ad- 
jacent to the Government Reservation. The 
cross-section of this tunnel is of horseshoe 
form and the tunnel is lined with brick, the sides 
and roof being of hard brick, while the floor 
or invert is paved with vitrified brick of such 
185 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

hardness that the sand blast test to which the 
material was subjected gave no evidence of 
abrasion. While the direction of the tunnel 
is in a straight line throughout its entire 
length, its slope is not wholly uniform, being 
at the rate of 4 feet per 1,000 at the upper end, 
the lower half sloping approximately at the 
rate of 7 feet to the 1,000 toward the portal, 
where for some few hundred feet the floor 
slopes still more rapidly, and is plated on the 
bottom and side with steel, forming a wave- 
like curve that brings the extreme end a num- 
ber of feet below the main water level of the 
river. The back water standing in the tunnel 
thus presents a water cushion to the outgoing 
stream as it leaves the tunnel and passes the 
open cut beyond the portal. This hydraulic 
gradient necessarily reduces the head other- 
wise due to the difference of level 216 feet be- 
tween the surface of the river above the upper 
rapids and the water in the gorge below the 
Falls. The sacrifice thus made is, however, 
unavoidable, as the slope is needed to obtain 
sufficient velocity to carry away from the tur- 
bines the water required to develop 100,000 
horse-power through a tunnel of limited cross- 
186 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

section. The nature of the rock through which 
the tunnel was driven made it necessary during 
the process of construction to support the roof 
and sides of the walls by strong timbers, which 
are replaced by the final lining of brick, form- 
ing an arch of such thickness as to insure 
ample stabihty. During the progress of the 
work careful supervision of the hydraulic ce- 
ment used resulted in a structure in which the 
joints are as strong or stronger than the bricks 
of superior quality used in the lining. This 
was proven whenever it became necessary to 
cut through the walls to make lateral connec- 
tions, the hard brick yielding more readily 
than the cement. The tunnel has been in con- 
stant use since 1895, and upon examination no 
sign of deterioration has been discovered. 
Nature, it seems, has assisted in the task of 
preservation, as the brick walls are found to be 
covered with a thin coating of vegetable 
growth which even the high velocity of the 
water seems unable to disturb, and which, 
therefore, acts as an additional protection to 
the brick work. 

On its land at the upper end of the tunnel 
the Niagara Falls Power Company has located 
187 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

its great power plant. Here the short inlet 
canal is 200 feet in width, extending inland 
from the river a distance of 1,200 feet, and de- 
creasing in width to 120 feet at its upper end, 
where it is bridged by a stone structure lead- 
ing from the office end of the power house to 
the building containing the electric trans- 
formers. By this canal the water is ca-rried 
into the power house by short entrance chan- 
nels each 14 feet wide and 17 feet in depth, 
which lead to the steel penstocks that feed the 
water to the turbines located in the wheelpit 
below the power house floor. These entrance 
channels are placed at intervals of 40 feet from 
centre to centre along the east wall of the 
power house, and in them are cased the steel 
sluice gates by which the admission of the 
water is controlled. The power house itself is 
a massive structure, built of stone to harmon- 
ize with the masonry of the canal, and the walls 
inside of the building are faced with white 
enamel brick. The steel roof-trusses that span 
the whole room are over 60 feet in width, and 
rest upon steel columns which extend beyond 
the face of the walls to carry the runway gird- 
ers of an electric travelling crane of about 50 




POWER HOUSE — EXTERIOR. 




POWER HOUSE INTERIOR. 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

tons capacity, which commands the entire 
power house floor. The north end of the 
power house is extended in width to the edge 
of the canal, and in the east wing thus formed, 
various offices of the company, occupying four 
floors, are situated, and are accessible on the 
ground floor by a doorway to the left of the 
high arched portal which forms the main en- 
trance to the building. The entrance was so 
proportioned that during the work of con- 
struction loaded cars could pass through it 
into the main room of the power house, where 
the materials were unloaded and handled by 
the travelling crane. Over this main door- 
way the arch-stones radiate to the ceiling of 
the vestibule, beneath which they are inter- 
sected by sculptured stone work representing 
the seal of the company. This seal, designed 
by Frederick Macmonnies, the American 
sculptor, represents the Indian Chief Ni-a- 
ga-ra, standing in his canoe, paddle in hand, 
in the act of shooting the rapids. Around the 
border are represented the Muscalonge, the 
Kingfish of the Niagara River, alternating 
with arrow heads and one of the fossil shells of 
the Niagara group. 

i8g 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Through the office door at the left of the 
entrance, visitors have access by a flight of 
stairs to a platform at the level of the second 
story, from which a second short flight of steps 
leads to a bridge that crosses the main room 
of the power station. From this bridge a 
view can be obtained of the electric generators 
and machinery which occupy the ground floor 
of the building. The generators now installed 
are ten in number, and are remarkable for 
their simpHcity as well as for the enormous 
power they are capable of developing. The 
rotating parts of each consist of 87,000 pounds 
of metal, which revolves at the rate of 250 revo- 
lutions per minute, suggesting, perhaps, a 
huge spinning top. They deliver a bi-phase al- 
ternating current of 2,200 volts' pressure to 
the bus bars enclosed within the two enam- 
elled-brick structures which support the plat- 
forms upon which are placed the various in- 
struments and devices for controlling and 
measuring the current, and which correspond 
to the usual switchboards of a power station. 
From these bus bars the current is carried by 
cables led in subways beneath the floor of the 
power house, extending under the bridge upon 

I go 



TEE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

which the visitor stands, and thence out of the 
building across the canal by a bridge to the 
transformer house on the opposite side, from 
which the current is distributed at whatever 
pressure is required by the various consumers. 
Near each of the dynamos or generators in 
the power house (which, by the way, are tech- 
nically termed " alternators," to distinguish 
them from direct current generators) may be 
seen the governing mechanism required to 
regulate their speed, which has to be main- 
tained with great uniformity. The revolving 
part of each generator is connected by means 
of a vertical steel shaft to the turbines, which 
are located in the wheelpit at a depth of about 
141 feet below the level of the water in the sur- 
face canal. Each turbine consists of a pair of 
wheels set about 10 feet apart, one above the 
other, at each end of a massive cast-iron 
" wheel case " which is supported by the side 
walls of the wheelpit, which, at this point, is 16 
feet in width. As before mentioned, the water 
is carried to the turbines by means of steel 
tubes or penstocks of 7 feet 6 inches in diam- 
eter, which, when filled, contain a column of 

water weighing over 400,000 pounds, sup- 
191 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ported, as are the turbines and wheel case, by 
the walls. The speed of the turbines is regu- 
lated by means of metal ring-gates, raised and 
lowered by the governing mechanism, and 
their position determines the amount of water 
discharged, permitting but a slight leakage 
when entirely closed. So little friction is there 
in the bearings of the massive shafts connect- 
ing the water wheels with the generators 
above, that when the ring-gates are closed, 
and the slight leakage past them constitutes 
the only power, the rotating speed, though 
reduced, will be maintained at from 50 to 90 
revolutions per minute, and the machinery 
must be brought to rest by a powerful brake, 
which, in turn, can only be relieved by shutting 
off the water at the main sluice gates and al- 
lowing the penstocks to be emptied. This 
practically frictionless condition is due to a 
peculiar feature of the turbines, the upper 
wheel in each unit being acted upon from be- 
low by the pressure of the water in the wheel 
case, and the arrangement such that the total 
weight of the revolving parts, including tur- 
bine shaft and rotating parts of the generator, 

is supported on a cushion of water. One sec- 
192 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

tion of the shaft is provided with rings which 
fit into grooves in the bearing, after the man- 
ner of the thrust-bearing system of steamship 
propeller shafts, but these rings have to resist 
a pressure of only 3,000 pounds up or down, 
according to the amount of work being done 
and the condition of the water cushion which 
carries the load when the machinery is in 
operation. 

As a crowning example of what can be done 
by way of diminishing the friction in the verti- 
cal shaft transmission, it may be of interest to 
note here that the seventh generator as seen 
from the bridge in the power house has lately 
been provided with an oil thrust-bearing 
which is fed by pumps capable of delivering oil 
to it under a pressure of 400 pounds to the 
square inch. This oil thrust is of novel and 
original design, and supplements the collar 
thrust-bearing referred to, and has been intro- 
duced experimentally to take the place of the 
water cushion in event of passages to the upper 
turbine being obstructed, as by ice, in such a 
manner as to decrease the balancing pressure. 
In testing this device the turbine was revolved 
by electricity, using its dynamo as a motor 
13 193 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

with its penstock empty, under which condi- 
tion it was found that the bearing operated 
with perfect satisfaction while supporting a ro- 
tating load of 148,500 pounds. Furthermore, 
when the speed had been reduced to 90 revo- 
lutions per minute, ready for the application 
of the brake, and the main sluice gates en- 
tirely closed so that no power was applied to 
the rotating mass, the bearing was so entirely 
frictionless that fully 51 minutes elapsed be- 
fore the enormous rotating mass came to an 
entire rest. This experiment also shows the 
utility of the field ring of the dynamo when 
acting as a fly wheel to steady the motion of 
the machine, and the inertia of the revolving 
mass is so great that it requires appreciable 
time for any change in the load to effect a 
change in the speed, thereby affording the 
governor the necessary time to cut off or in- 
crease the water supply, and thus keep the 
speed of the generator constant. 

Between the fifth and sixth generators in 
the power house can be seen four direct-cur- 
rent dynamos, each of which is operated by an 
independent turbine of the so-called Francis 

type. These generators supply current to the 
194 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGfABA'S POWER. 

rotating field magnets of the large alternators, 
and they also supply to the various electric 
motors used throughout the building, such as 
the travelling crane, the ten sluice gates and 
the many pumps for oil, air, and water. These 
motors are also connected to the switchboard 
that they may be operated by direct current 
furnished by the exciters, or by transformed 
current, through rotary transformers, from 
the main alternators. At the north end of the 
power house are three machines which have 
the appearance of electric motors or gener- 
ators, each with its horizontal axis and arma- 
ture enclosed by stationary field magnets. 
These machines are controlled by a switch- 
board and are the rotary transformers above 
referred to. They constitute one of the im- 
portant improvements made since the com- 
pany first decided to adopt the alternating cur- 
rent system of generation and transmission, 
and from their collector rings and brushes four 
cables are laid from the static transformers lo- 
cated in the room below them by which the bi- 
phase alternating current is conveyed to the 
armature at the required voltage. On the 
opposite end of the armature are other com- 
195 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

mutators and brushes, by means of which a 
direct current of 550 volts is dehvered to the 
pole system of the Niagara Falls terminus of 
the trolley road leading to Buffalo and to 
other places on the line. Two of these small 
machines represent the steam engine and dy- 
namo outfit which, with the requisite boiler 
plant, would be required to do the same work 
in generating power by direct current of low 
pressure, and the contrast between steam- 
driven electric installation and the direct de- 
livery of electricity from Niagara Falls might 
have been seen to advantage when, in the large 
power house of the railway to Buffalo, three 
rotary transformers were set up in a corner to 
take the place of the many boilers, engines, 
and dynamos, which, since then, have stood 
unused. 

Reference has already been made to the 
brick structures in the power house which cor- 
respond with the usual switchboard equipment 
of electric plants, and on which are placed the 
various instruments required by the attend- 
ants to regulate the current controlling the dy- 
namos and the current being generated. On 
these elevated platforms can be seen a number 
196 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

of Stands or cabinets, the larger of which are 
equipped with the instruments pertaining to 
each of the dynamos and the exciters. The 
smaller stands^ on which are electric lamps, 
support the levers which operate the current 
breakers of the main circuits, the lights indica- 
ting when the current has been established. 
The switches or circuit breakers themselves 
are operated by compressed air, and are situ- 
ated in the brick enclosure below the platform, 
where they can be seen through the glass 
doors that extend along one side of the struc- 
ture. All of the recording instruments are 
located in the electrician's office at the north 
end of the building, where the main conduc- 
tors pass out and across the canal to the trans- 
former house on the opposite side, 

A passenger elevator located near the fifth 
and sixth large generators gives access to the 
ten iron floors or platforms in the wheelpit, the 
lowest of which is 132 feet below the power 
house floor. The first platform immediately 
below the main floor is termed the " thrust- 
bearing deck," being at the level of the shaft 
bearing before mentioned that takes the end 
thrust of the rotating parts of the machinery. 
197 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Here also can be seen the driving mechanism 
of the governors, and some of the massive 
levers that operate the ring gates of the tur-- 
bines as well as the neatly arranged system of 
iron and brass pipe conductors for the water 
and oil supply, and through open hatchways 
at this level one can see and appreciate the 
enormous depth of the underground works, 
the huge penstocks and the rotating shafts 
transmitting power to the turbines. Since 
completing the work beyond the three units 
installed prior to 1895, the entire length of the 
pit has been lined with brick, and all the vari- 
ous gangways and platforms constructed of 
iron and steel. The pit is lighted throughout 
by electricity, and being dry and kept scrupu- 
lously clean, the interesting features of the 
work below the power house floor may be 
seen to advantage and with comfort, as com- 
pared with the condition that existed during 
the early years of its use, when streams of 
water from underground springs jetted from 
the rock walls. These springs still exist, but 
their discharge is carried ofif by a perfect sys- 
tem of drainage back of the brick walls that 
form the lining. On the lowest deck may be 
198 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

seen through a small trap-door the torrent of 
water which pours from the turbines, which 
are quite hidden by the spray that glistens in 
the light of the electric lamps. 

After the completion of the power house to 
its full capacity the line of the Junction Rail- 
way was so changed as to make it advisable to 
bring its tracks into the south end of the build- 
ing in order to admit the cars which deliver 
the lubricating oil required for the machinery, 
which is placed in tanks below the power 
house floor. From these stationary oil tanks 
of 5,000 gallons capacity the oil can be fed 
through a meter, by which it is measured, to 
the shaft bearings in the wheelpit, as it may be 
required to replace the slight loss in oil inci- 
dent to the perfect automatic lubricating sys- 
tem. The oil is lifted by pumps to an over- 
head reservoir near the roof of the power 
house, from which height the various bearings 
are supplied by gravity, and after use the oil 
passes to the filtering or recuperating plant in 
the wheelpit, to be returned in good condition 
to the overhead source of supply. 

On the opposite side of the inlet canal stands 
the transformer house, the building con- 
199 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

structed of stone similar to that used in the 
other works, and in this building are located 
all of the large step-up transformers, which 
serve two purposes. First, to raise the pres- 
sure or voltage of the current from 2,200 volts 
to 11,000 or 22,000 volts as may be required, 
and secondly, to convert the bi-phase current 
generated by the dynamos into a tri-phase sys- 
tem, thus enabling three conductors of equal 
size to carry to a distance the same amount of 
electricity as four similar cables would do in 
the case of the bi-phase system. Four cables 
lead to each transformer, but three only are 
used in each of the several pole lines to Buffalo 
and to other points, including some of the near- 
by industrial establishments. From the trans- 
former house a tunnel or conduit is extended 
through which the cables conveying current 
to local consumers are carried, and from this 
conduit the branches extend to the plants of 
the several consumers by an underground 
system similar to that employed in large cities. 
Between the power house and the mouth of 
the inlet canal stands a building containing the 
filtering plant for the water supply of the city 
of Niagara Falls. The pumps used for lifting 
200 



TEE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

the water from the canal to the filtering tanks 
are electrically driven, and the tanks are fitted 
with appliances which permit the daily clean- 
ing of the filtering bed within them. The 
tanks are arranged in rows, and in each the 
water, as it comes from the river, can be seen 
pouring over a shield and flowing over the bed 
of sand through which it passes to a reservoir 
below. From this reservoir pipes convey the 
water to the wheelpit under the power house, 
where, in chambers excavated in the solid 
rock, arched and lined with brick, are powerful 
Riedler pumps actuated by impulse wheels of 
the Pelton type. The water by means of this 
machinery is pumped directly into the city 
mains at 60 pounds per square inch pressure 
for house domestic use, but in case of fire the 
pressure is raised to 120 pounds per square 
inch. The fire department of the city can 
therefore dispense with engines and fight the 
fires direct by hose only from the plugs in the 
street, the pressure being about the same as 
that obtained by the modern steam fire en- 
gines. A stand pipe on the hill north of the 
city serves to regulate the pressure so far as 
the water supply for domestic use is concerned, 
201 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

and an automatic valve arrangement cuts off 
the stand-pipe to prevent overflow when the 
pressure is raised for fire purposes. 

Visitors having access to the power house 
floor can obtain a fine view of the canal and 
the various buildings from a wide paved space 
between the power house and the canal wall. 
They can also see the long rack extending the 
entire length of the building in front of the in- 
lets or channels that lead the water to the re- 
spective turbines. At the river end of the 
canal is a wooden boom to prevent logs and 
other large drifting matter from entering the 
waterways, the racks above alluded to serving 
to arrest the grass and other small floating 
matter that might otherwise enter the pen- 
stocks. 

The river bed at the mouth of the canal has 
been deepened by dredging, and a broad stone 
causeway starting from the mainland imme- 
diately above this point crosses to Grass Isl- 
and, which is thus rendered accessible for 
future improvement. 

From this great central station now finished 
and in full operation, over 50,000 electrical 
horse-power is being utilized in establishments 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

at Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Tonawanda, Lock- 
port and on the trolley line between Niagara 
Falls and these neighboring communities. 

Electric power from this station operates all 
the street car lines and supplies all the munici- 
pal lighting in the city of Buffalo, distant 
twenty-six miles, and the Pan-American Ex- 
position of 1901, to be held in that city, will be 
lighted and much of its machinery operated 
from this same central station at Niagara Falls. 

A large part of this 50,000 electrical horse- 
power is used at Niagara Falls by twenty ten- 
ants, on the power company's lands, for the 
manufacture, by electrolytic and electro- 
chemical processes, of various metals and 
chemicals, and the company, in addition to 
furnishing this electrical horse-power, supplies 
8,000 hydraulic power for the operation of the 
International Paper Company, its first power 
tenant in point of use of power. 

The beginning of the 20th century finds the 
work well advanced toward a further exten- 
sion of the system, already less than ten years 
old, and a new wheelpit to accommodate 
eleven additional turbines is being constructed 

on the east side of the inlet canal opposite the 
203 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

present central station, but located nearer the 
river. The general architectural features of 
the power house to be erected will be in har-. 
mony with the existing buildings, but will pro- 
vide more commodious offices and will be of 
improved fireproof construction throughout. 
The machinery will embody the latest im- 
provements known and suggested by the five 
years of experience with the present installa- 
tion, that has proved so successful and eco- 
nomical in the development of power at Niag- 
ara Falls, and the best effort of those who have 
cooperated in developing the engineering fea- 
tures of the present plan is being brought to 
bear upon the improvements in contempla- 
tion. Those who are familiar with the sur- 
roundings of Niagara Falls in the past cannot 
but be impressed by the improvements which 
have followed this great water-power develop- 
ment. Outside of the natural attractions of 
the Falls, framed in their beautiful setting of 
lands forever reserved as a park on both sides 
of the river, fine avenues are taking the place 
of former dirt roads, permanent bridges span 
the stream, new and more substantial build- 
ings are being erected throughout the city, 
204 



TEE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

while cheap and rapid transportation has been 
established to points of interest before not 
readily accessible. More than 1,500 acres of 
land are under the control of the Niagara Falls 
Power Company and its allied corporations, 
extending to the east of the city and partly 
within its limits, and great industrial establish- 
ments have grown up on reclaimed ground 
that ten years ago was too low for cultivation 
or use for any purpose. 

The town of Echota, the name signifying 
" A place of rest," has grown up upon the 
lands of the allied companies, the dwellings 
and their arrangement forming a model village 
furnished with light, water, and a very com- 
plete and perfect sewage-disposal system, 
while, as before mentioned, the tracks of the 
Junction Railway bring all parts of the com- 
pany's land, and the industries to which power 
is furnished^ into direct communication with 
the great railways of the State that pass 
through the city of Niagara Falls. 

In regard to the character of the power gen- 
erated and distributed, it is interesting to note 
that while the Cataract Construction Com- 
pany was considering the problem of develop- 
205 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ing the power of the Falls to the best interest 
of the Niagara Falls Power Company, those 
who directed its affairs, with admirable fore- 
thought and in the face of great opposition on 
the part of high technical authorities, adopted 
not only the alternating current system, whose 
advocates were then in the minority, but they 
fixed on a bi-phase alternating current of 
twenty-five full alternations per second, greatly 
below what was in use for lighting purposes but 
considered as favorable to the transmission of 
power. By limiting the rate of alternations to 
what is best adapted to power transmission, a 
very high efBciency has been achieved, and the 
multi-phase alternating current lends itself to 
all the requirements of electrical energy by 
subsequent conversion into higher or lower 
pressure or to transformation into direct cur- 
rent when desired. In point of fact, all the dy- 
namos generate alternate current, which, in 
the case of direct current apparatus, is straight- 
ened out by the addition of a commutator on 
the generator. This commutator has a cylin- 
der formed of segmental bars of copper 
placed together like the staves of a barrel, and 
separated by insulating material so connected 
206 




Photograph by Nielson. 



THE AMERICAN FALL FROM BELOW. 



TEE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

to the coils of the armature that the brushes 
under which the bars sweep carry to the con- 
ductors the pulsations of electricity that are in 
the right direction, thus enabling the gener- 
ator to furnish a constant or direct current. 
An alternating current, on the other hand, 
passes to the external circuit without rectifica- 
tion, and may be raised or lowered by static 
transformers, or it may be converted by rotary 
transformers into direct current of any re- 
quired pressure or voltage. The application 
of this system in the development of power at 
Niagara Falls has proved most successful, and 
its wonderful elasticity has grown daily more 
apparent since the first alternators were put 
in motion in 1895. 

Since the plant at Niagara Falls was first put 
in operation in 1895, the great advantage of 
power transmission by means of electricity has 
been recognized and has rapidly gained favor 
with manufacturers all over the country. As 
compared with all other modes of long dis- 
tance transmission, it has been accepted as un- 
doubtedly the best, and even for a short trans- 
mission, as from the steam engine or the water 
wheels to the machines to be operated, elec- 
207 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

tricity has been found more economical than 
transmission by shafting, belts, and pulleys. 
Very many big establishments have erected, 
large electrical generating stations to drive 
their machinery by motors, either connected 
directly to the machines to be operated or to 
groups of machines, not only saving thereby 
the loss due to ordinary shaft-transmission, 
but by doing away with belts and overhead 
pulleys, much space is secured for the better 
handling of material by cranes or other hoist- 
ing devices also operated by electricity. In the 
case under consideration, as at Buffalo, elec- 
tricity delivered from Niagara Falls has 
proved to be not only cheaper than that devel- 
oped by fuel, but has the advantage of con- 
stancy and of avoidance of all risk from sudden 
shortage of coal as caused by strikes or exces- 
sive cost of power incident to the rise in price 
of fuel. Great as are the coal fields of Amer- 
ica, they are not exhaustless, nor does the coal 
yield the whole of its heat units when con- 
sumed. Even under the most improved 
methods of consumption and utilization it is 
but a small fraction of the theoretical power 
that serves a useful purpose, and Nature offers 
208 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

no promise of reproduction of coal to take the 
place of that taken from the earth. On the 
other hand, the overflowing water of the great 
Falls of Niagara, which has been passing for 
ages almost unused to the sea, can be utilized 
as a source of power with positive assurance as 
to its continuity and stability at all times. 

The Cataract of Niagara derives its power 
from the orderly operation of the laws of na- 
ture. The constantly acting force of gravita- 
tion speeds the river to the ocean, where its 
waters are vaporized and returned inland to be 
deposited by condensation on the rainsheds 
feeding lakes and rivers. Over the immense 
area which constitutes the drainage basin of 
the Great Lakes, the varying climatic condi- 
tions producing drought or flood seem to aver- 
age themselves, and this, together with the vast 
storage capacity of the lake reservoirs, renders 
the volume of water subject to scarcely notice- 
able variations, exactly as the ocean seems to 
show little rise or fall other than that of the 
tide. To this condition is due the great uni- 
formity of the flow of the river from Lake Erie 
to the Falls, making it the nearest possible ap- 
proach to perpetual motion. A small im- 
14 209 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

pounded mass of water rarely represents a uni- 
form source of water power, as it is likely to 
be reduced by drought or suddenly increased, 
by flood, according to the conditions affecting 
the condensation of the vapors passing inland 
from the ocean. It is this apparent uniformity 
at all seasons that gives the Niagara River, 
with its great lake reservoirs behind it, an al- 
most unique advantage as a source of power, 
and has warranted such an expenditure of 
thought and money in its development. The 
capitalists who have invested so liberally in 
this great work have done so with full appre- 
ciation of the difhculties to be encountered, 
and with abiding faith in the ultimate success 
of the undertaking. The spirit of specula- 
tion has not controlled the development, but 
from the outset it has been the aim of those in- 
terested to make it a commercial success by the 
application of the best engineering methods 
and the highest manufacturing skill. Through 
what was known as the Niagara Falls Inter- 
national Commission, which met in London in 
1890-91, careful and extensive consideration 
was given to the state of the arts in the genera- 
tion of hydraulic power and its transmission 



THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA'S POWER. 

and utilization. The conclusions thus arrived 
at helped to determine the nature of the in- 
stallation, and in carrying out the work ever.y 
attention has been paid to durabihty and con- 
struction, economy in the use of power, and 
the best methods of securing the greatest con- 
tinuity of service in generation and transmis- 
sion to consumers under the climatic and acci- 
dental causes tending to interrupt it. 

Although the nature and magnitude of the 
development were without precedent, and 
called for the invention of special machinery 
and appliances, the engineering skill applied 
to this, based on sound scientific principles and 
practical experience, raised the work above the 
level of mere theory and experiment, and this 
is evidenced in the successful operation of the 
plant and the high efficiency attained with it 
from the outset. The 50,000 horse-power 
now being utilized will, on completion of the 
work in progress, be increased to more than 
100,000 horse-power, and this great energy is 
rendered available without disturbing in the 
least the natural beauties of the Falls. On the 
contrary, the development lends a new attrac- 
tion to Niagara, both for those who are inter- 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ested in the work from an engineering stand- 
point, representing as it does the most ad- 
vanced state of the arts, and also to the general 
pubHc, who cannot but be impressed with the 
magnitude of the undertaking and the thought 
of this great power being turned to the uses 
of man. Not only is it being utilized close at 
hand, but it is finding its way further and 
further from its source, and the frequently 
repeated inquiry as to whether this energy 
may be transmitted to Buffalo and distant 
points where fuel is dear is finding its answer 
in the increased demand for power thus trans- 
mitted, as each year discovers new markets 
and new uses for it. 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

PART H. 

First Authentic Mention of N. F. Mark Twain. 

Niagara, First and Last. William Dean Howells. 
As It Rushes By. Edward S. Martin. 

Famous Visitors at N. F. Rev. Thomas R. Slicer. 



PART 11. 

THE FIRST AUTHENTIC 
MENTION. 

By Mark Twain. 
Extracts frotit Adam's Diary, 

Monday, — This new creature with the long 
hair is a good deal in the way. It is always 
hanging around and following me about. I 
don't like this; I am not used to company. 
I wish it would stay with the other animals. 
Cloudy to-day, wind in the east; think we shall 
have rain. . We? Where did I get that word? 

I remember now — the new creature uses it. 

Tuesday. — Been examining the great 
waterfall. It is the finest thing on the estate, 
I think. The new creature calls it Niagara 
Falls — why, I am sure I do not know. Says 
it looks like Niagara Falls. That is not a rea- 
son, it is mere waywardness and imbecility. I 
get no chance to name anything myself. The 
new creature names everything that comes 
215 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

along, before I can get in a protest. And 
always that same pretext is offered — it looks 
like the thing. There is the dodo, for in- 
stance. Says the moment one looks at it one 
sees at a glance that it " looks like a dodo." It 
will have to keep that name, no doubt. It 
wearies me to fret about it, and it does no 
good, anyway. Dodo ! It looks no more like 
a dodo than I do. 

Wednesday. — Built me a shelter against 
the rain, but could not have it to myself in 
peace. The new creature intruded. When I 
tried to put it out it shed water out of the holes 
it looks with, and wiped it away with the back 
of its paws, and made a noise such as some of 
the other animals make when they are in dis- 
tress. I wish it would not talk; it is always 
talking. That sounds like a cheap fling at the 
poor creature, a slur; but I do not mean it so. 
I have never heard the human voice before, 
and any new and strange sound intruding it- 
self here upon the solemn hush of these dream- 
ing solitudes offends my ear and seems a false 
note. And this new sound is so close to me; 
it is right at my shoulder, right at my ear, first 

on one side and then on the other, and I am 
216 




Photog^raph by Nielson. 
ROCK OF AGES AND CAVE OF THE WINDS. 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

used only to sounds that are more or less dis- 
tant from me. 

Friday. — The naming goes recklessly on, 

in spite of anything I can do. I had a very 
good name for the estate, and it was musical 
and pretty — Garden of Eden. Privately, I 
continue to call it that, but not any longer 
publicly. The new creature says it is all woods 
and rocks and scenery, and therefore has no 
resemblance to a garden. Says it looks like a 
park, and does not look like anything but a 
park. Consequently, without consulting me, 
it has been new-named — Niagara Falls 
Park. This is sufficiently high-handed, it 
seems to me. And already there is a sign up : 

KEEP OFF 
THE GRASS. 

My life is not as happy as it was. 

Saturday. — The new creature eats too 
much fruit. We are going to run short, most 
likely. " We " again — that is its word; mine, 
too, now, from hearing it so much. Good deal 
of fog this morning. I do not go out in the 
fog myself. The new creature does. It goes 
out in all weathers, and stumps right in with 
217 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

its muddy feet. And talks. It used to be so 
pleasant and quiet here. 

Sunday. — Pulled through. This day is get- 
ting to be more and more trying. It was se- 
lected and set apart last November as a day of 
rest. I had already six of them per week be- 
fore. This morning found the new creature 
trying to clod apples out of that forbidden tree. 

Monday. — The new creature says its name 
is Eve. That is all right, I have no objections. 
Says it is to call it by, when I want it to come. 
I said it was superfluous, then. The word evi- 
dently raised me in its respect; and indeed it 
is a large, good word and will bear repetition. 
It sa5^s it is not an It, it is a She. This is prob- 
ably doubtful; yet it is all one to me; what she 
is were nothing to me if she would but go by 
herself and not talk. 

Tuesday. — She has littered the whole estate 
with execrable names and offensive signs : 

This way to the Whirlpool. 

This way to Goat Island. 
Cave of the Winds this way. 

She says this park would make a tidy sum- 
mer resort if there was any custom for it. Sum- 
mer resort — another invention of hers — just 
218 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

words, without any meaning. What is a sum- 
mer resort ? But it is best not to ask her, she 
has such a rage for explaining. 

Friday. — She has taken to beseeching me 
to stop going over the Falls. What harm does 
it do ? Says it makes her shudder. I wonder 
why; I have always done it — always liked the 
plunge, and the excitement and the coolness. 
I supposed it was what the Falls were for. 
They have no other use that I can see, and 
they must have been made for something. She 
says they were only made for scenery — like 
the rhinoceros and the mastodon. 

I went over the Falls in a barrel — not satis- 
factory to her. Went over in a tub — still not 
satisfactory. Swam the Whirlpool and the 
Rapids in a fig-leaf suit. It got much dam- 
aged. Hence, tedious complaints about my 
extravagance. I am too much hampered here. 
What I need is change of scene. 

Saturday. — I escaped last Tuesday night, 
and travelled two days, and built me another 
shelter in a secluded place, and obliterated my 
tracks as well as I could, but she hunted me 
out by means of a beast which she has tamed 
and calls a wolf, and came making that pitiful 
219 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

noise again, and shedding that water out of the 
places she looks with. I was obHged to return 
with her, but will presently emigrate again^ 
when occasion offers. She engages herself in 
many foolish things; among others, to study 
out why the animals called lions and tigers 
live on grass and flowers, when, as she says, 
the sort of teeth they wear would indicate that 
they were intended to eat each other. This is 
foolish, because to do that would be to kill 
each other, and that would introduce what, as 
I understand it, is called " death " ; and death, 
as I have been told, has not yet entered the 
Park. Which is a pity, on some accounts. 

Sunday. — Pulled through. 

Monday. — I believe I see what the week is 
for; it is to give time to rest up from the weari- 
ness of Sunday. It seems a good idea. . . . 
She has been climbing that tree again. Clod- 
ded her out of it. She said nobody was look- 
ing. Seems to consider that a sufficient justi- 
fication for chancing any dangerous thing. 
Told her that. The word justification moved 
her admiration — and envy, too, I thought. It 
is a good word. 

Tuesday. — She told me she was made out 
220 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

of a rib taken from my body. This is at least 
doubtful, if not more than that. I have not 
missed any rib. . . . She is in much trou- 
ble about the buzzard; says grass does not 
agree with it; is afraid she can't raise it; thinks 
it was intended to live on decayed flesh. The 
buzzard must get along the best it can with 
what it is provided. We cannot overturn the 
whole scheme to accommodate the buzzard. 

Saturday. — She fell in the pond yesterday 
when she was looking at herself in it, which she 
is always doing. She nearly strangled, and 
said it was most uncomfortable. This made 
her sorry for the creatures which live in there, 
which she calls fish, for she continues to fasten 
names on to things that don't need them and 
don't come when they are called by them, 
which is a matter of no consequence to her, she 
is such a numskull, anyway; so she got a lot of 
them out and brought them in last night and 
put them in my bed to keep warm, but I have 
noticed them now and then all day and I don't 
see that they are any happier there than they 
were before, only quieter. When night comes 
I shall throw them outdoors. I will not sleep 
with them again, for I find them clammy and 

221 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

unpleasant to lie among when a person hasn't 
anything on. 

Sunday. — Pulled through. 

Tuesday. — She has taken up with a snake 
now. The other animals are glad, for she was 
always experimenting with them and bother- 
ing them ; and I am glad because the snake 
talks, and this enables me to get a rest. 

Friday. — She says the snake advises her to 
try the fruit of that tree, and says the result 
will be a great and fine and noble education, 
I told her there would be another result, too 
— it would introduce death into the world. 
That was a mistake — it had been better to keep 
the remark to myself; it only gave her an idea 
— she could save the sick buzzard, and furnish 
fresh meat to the despondent lions and tigers. 
I advised her to keep away from the tree. She 
said she wouldn't. I foresee trouble. Will 
emigrate. 

Wednesday. — I have had a variegated 
time. I escaped that night, and rode a horse 
all night as fast as he could go, hoping to get 
clear out of the Park and hide in some other 
country before the trouble should begin; but 
it was not to be. About an hour after sun-up, 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

as I was riding through a flowery plain where 
thousands of animals were grazing, slumber- 
ing, or playing with each other, according to 
their wont, all of a sudden they broke into a 
tempest of frightful noises, and in one moment 
the plain was a frantic commotion and every 
beast was destroying its neighbor. I knew 
what it meant — Eve had eaten that fruit, and 
death was come into the world. . . . The 
tigers ate my horse, paying no attention when 
I ordered them to desist, and they would have 
eaten me if I had stayed — which I didn't, but 
went away in much haste. ... I found 
this place, outside the Park, and was fairly 
comfortable for a few days, but she has found 
me out. Found me out, and has named the 
place Tonawanda — says it looks like that. In 
fact I was not sorry she came, for there are but 
meagre pickings here, and she brought some 
of those apples. I was obliged to eat them, I 
was so hungry. It was against my principles, 
but I find that principles have no real force 
except when one is well fed. , . . She 
came curtained in boughs and bunches of 
leaves, and when I asked her what she meant 
by such nonsense, and snatched them away 
223 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

and threw them down, she tittered and 
blushed. I had never seen a person titter and 
blush before, and to me it seemed unbecoming^ 
and idiotic. She said I would soon know how 
it was myself. This was correct. Hungry as 
I was, I laid down the apple half-eaten — cer- 
tainly the best one I ever saw, considering the 
lateness of the season — and arrayed myself in 
the discarded boughs and branches, and then 
spoke to her with some severity and ordered 
her to go and get some more and not make 
such a spectacle of herself. She did it, and 
after this we crept down to where the wild- 
beast battle had been, and collected some 
skins, and I made her patch together a couple 
of suits proper for public occasions. They are 
uncomfortable, it is true, but stylish, and that 
is the main point about clothes. ... I 
find she is a good deal of a companion, I see 
I should be lonesome and depressed without 
her, now that I have lost my property. An- 
other thing, she says it is ordered that we work 
for our living hereafter. She will be useful. 
I will superintend. 

Ten Days Later. — She accuses me of being 
the cause of our disaster ! She says, with ap- 
224 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

parent sincerity and truth, that the Serpent 
assured her that the forbidden fruit was not 
apples, it was chestnuts. I said I was inno- 
cent, then, for I had not eaten any chestnuts. 
She said the Serpent informed her that " chest- 
nut " was a figurative term meaning an aged 
and mouldy joke. I turned pale at that, for I 
have made many jokes to pass the weary time, 
and some of them could have been of that sort, 
though I had honestly supposed that they were 
new when I made them. She asked me if I 
had made one just at the time of the catastro- 
phe. I was obliged to admit that I had made 
one to myself, though not aloud. It was this. 
I was thinking about the Falls, and I said to 
myself, " How wonderful it is to see that vast 
body of water tumble down there ! " Then in 
an instant a bright thought flashed into my 
head, and I let it fly, saying, " It would be a 
deal more wonderful to see it tumble up 
there ! " — and I was just about to kill myself 
with laughing at it when all nature broke loose 
in war and death and I had to flee for my life. 
" There," she said, with triumph, " that is just 
it; the Serpent mentioned that very jest, and 
called it the First Chestnut, and said it was 
15 225 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

coeval with the creation." Alas, I am indeed 
to blame. Would that I were not witty; oh, 
that I had never had that radiant thought! 

Next Year. — We have named it Cain. She 
caught it while I was up country trapping on 
the North Shore of the Erie; caught it in the 
timber a couple of miles from our dug-out — 
or it might have been four, she isn't certain 
which. It resembles us in some ways, and may 
be a relation. That is what she thinks, but 
this is an error, in my judgment. The differ- 
ence in size warrants the conclusion that it is 
a different and new kind of animal — a fish, per- 
haps, though when I put it in the water to see, 
it sank, and she plunged in and snatched it out 
before there was opportunity for the experi- 
ment to determine the matter. I still think 
it is a fish, but she is indifferent about what it 
is, and will not let me have it to try. I do not 
understand this. The coming of the creature 
seems to have changed her whole nature and 
made her unreasonable about experiments. 
She thinks more of it than she does of any of 
the other animals, but is not able to explain 
why. Her mind is disordered — everything 
shows it. Sometimes she carries the fish in 
226 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

her arms half the night when it complains and 
wants to get to the water. At such times the 
water comes out of the places in her face that 
she looks" out of, and she pats the fish on the 
back and makes soft sounds with her mouth 
to soothe it, and betrays sorrow and solicitude 
in a hundred ways. I have never seen her do 
like this with any other fish, and it troubles 
me greatly. She used to carry the young 
tigers around so, and play with them, before 
we lost our property, but it was only play; she 
never took on about them like this when their 
dinner disagreed with them. 

Sunday. — She doesn't work, Sundays, but 
lies around all tired out, and likes to have the 
fish wallow over her; and she makes fool 
noises to amuse it, and pretends to chew its 
paws, and that makes it laugh. I have not 
seen a fish before that could laugh. This 
makes me doubt. ... I have come to like 
Sunday myself. Superintending all the week 
tires a body so. There ought to be more Sun- 
days. In the old days they were tough, but 
now they come handy. 

Wednesday. — It isn't a fish. I cannot quite 
make out what it is. It makes curious devil- 
227 



THE NIAQARA BOOK. 

ish noises when not satisfied, and says " goo- 
goo " when it is. It is not one of us, for it 
doesn't walk; it is not a bird, for it doesn't fly; 
it is not a frog, for it doesn't hop; it is not a 
snake, for it doesn't crawl; I feel sure it is not 
a fish, though I cannot get a chance to find out 
whether it can swim or not. It merely lies 
around, and mostly on its back, with its feet 
up. I have not seen any other animal do that 
before. I said I believed it was an enigma; 
but she only admired the word without under- 
standing it. In my judgment it is either an 
enigma or some kind of a bug. If it dies, I 
will take it apart and see what its arrange- 
ments are. I never had a thing perplex me so. 
Three Months Later. — The perplexity 
augments instead of diminishing. I sleep but 
little. It has ceased from lying around, and 
goes about on its four legs now. Yet it dififers 
from the other four-legged animals, in that 
its front legs are unusually short, consequently 
this causes the main part of its person to stick 
up uncomfortably high in the air, and this is 
not attractive. It is built much as we are, 
but its method of travelling shows that it is not 
of our breed. The short front legs and long 
228 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

hind ones indicate that it is of the kangaroo 
family, but it is a marked variation of the spe- 
cies, since the true kangaroo hops, whereas 
this one never does. Still it is a curious and 
interesting variety, and has not been cata- 
logued before. As I discovered it, I have felt 
justified in securing the credit of the discovery 
by attaching my name to it, and hence have 
called it Kangaroorum Adamiensis. . . . 
It must have been a young one when it 
came, for it has grown exceedingly since. 
It must be five times as big, now, as it was 
then, and when discontented it is able to make 
from twenty-two to thirty-eight times the 
noise it made at first. Coercion does not 
modify this, but has the contrary effect. For 
this reason I discontinued the system. She 
reconciles it by persuasion, and by giving it 
things which she had previously told it she 
wouldn't give it. As already observed, I was 
not at home when it first came, and she told 
me she found it in the woods. It seems odd 
that it should be the only one, yet it must be so, 
for I have worn myself out these many weeks 
trying to find another one to add to my collec- 
tion, and for this one to play with; for surely 
229 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

then it would be quieter and we could tame it 
more easily. But I find none, nor any vestige 
of any; and, strangest of all, no tracks. It 
has to live on the ground, it cannot help itself; 
therefore, how does it get about without leav- 
ing a track? I have set a dozen traps, but 
they do no good. I catch all small animals 
except that one; animals that merely go into 
the trap out of curiosity, I think, to see what 
the milk is there for. They never drink it. 

Three Months Later. — The Kangaroo 
still continues to grow, which is very strange 
and perplexing. I never knew one to be so 
long getting its growth. It has fur on its head 
now; not like kangaroo fur, but exactly like 
our hair except that it is much finer and softer, 
and instead of being black is red. I am like to 
lose my mind over the capricious and harass- 
ing developments of this unclassifiable zoologi- 
cal freak. If I could catch another one — but 
that is hopeless; it is a new variety, and the 
only sample; this is plain. But I caught a 
true kangaroo and brought it in, thinking that 
this one, being lonesome, would rather have 
that for company than have no kin at all, or any 
animal it could feel a nearness to or get sym- 
230 



TEE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

pathy from in its forlorn condition here among 
strangers who do not know its ways or habits, 
or what to do to make it feel that it is among 
friends; but it was a mistake — it went into such 
fits at the sight of the kangaroo that I was 
convinced it had never seen one before. I pity 
the poor noisy little animal, but there is noth- 
ing I can do to make it happy. If I could 
tame it — but that is out of the question; the 
more I try the worse I seem to make it. It 
grieves me to the heart to see it in its little 
storms of sorrow and passion. I wanted to let 
it go, but she wouldn't hear of it. That seemed 
cruel and not like her; and yet she may be 
right. It might be lonelier than ever; for 
since I cannot find another one, how could itf 
Five Months Later. — It is not a kan- 
garoo. No, for it supports itself by holding 
to her finger, and thus goes a few steps on its 
hind legs, and then falls down. It is probably 
some kind of a bear; and yet it has no tail — as 
yet — and no fur, except on its head. It still 
keeps on growing — that is a curious circum- 
stance, for bears get their growth earlier than 
this. Bears are dangerous — since our catas- 
trophe — and I shall not be satisfied to have 
231 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

this one prowling about the place much longer 
without a muzzle on. I have offered to get 
her a kangaroo if she would let this one go, but, 
it did no good — she is determined to run us 
into all sorts of foolish risks, I think. She was 
not like this before she lost her mind. 

A Fortnight Later. — I examined its 
mouth. There is no danger yet; it has only 
one tooth. It has no tail yet. It makes more 
noise now than it ever did before — and mainly 
at night. I have moved out. But I shall go 
over, mornings, to breakfast, and see if it has 
more teeth. If it gets a mouthful of teeth it 
will be time for it to go, tail or no tail, for a 
bear does not need a tail in order to be dan- 
gerous. 

Four Months Later. — I have been off 
hunting and fishing a month, up in the region 
that she calls Buffalo; I don't know why, un- 
less it is because there are not any buffaloes 
there. Meantime the bear has learned to pad- 
dle around all by itself on its hind legs, and 
says " poppa " and " momma." It is certainly 
a new species. This resemblance to words 
may be purely accidental, of course, and may 
have no purpose or meaning; but even in that 
232 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

case it is still extraordinary, and is a thing 
which no other bear can do. This imitation 
of speech, taken together with general absence 
of fur and entire absence of tail, sufficiently in- 
dicates that this is a new kind of bear. The 
further study of it will be exceedingly interest- 
ing. Meantime I will go off on a far expedi- 
tion among the forests of the north and make 
an exhaustive search. There must certainly 
be another one somewhere, and this one will 
be less dangerous when it has company of its 
own species. I will go straightway; but I 
will muzzle this one first. 

Three Months Later. — It has been a 
weary, weary hunt, yet I have had no success. 
In the meantime, without stirring from the 
home estate, she has caught another one! I 
never saw such luck. I might have hunted 
these woods a hundred years, I never would 
have run across that thing. 

Next Day. — I have been comparing the 
new one with the old one, and it is perfectly 
plain that they are the same breed. I was 
going to stuff one of them for my collection, 
but she is prejudiced against it for some reason 
or other; so I have relinquished the idea, 
233 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

though I think it is a mistake. It would be an 
irreparable loss to science if they should get 
away. The old one is tamer than it was, and 
can laugh and talk like the parrot, having 
learned this, no doubt, from being with the 
parrot so much, and having the imitative fac- 
ulty in a highly developed degree. I shall be 
astonished if it turns out to be a new kind of 
parrot; and yet I ought not to be astonished, 
for it has already been everything else it could 
think of since those first days when it was a 
fish. The new one is as ugly now as the old 
one was at first; has the same sulphur-and-raw- 
meat complexion and the same singular head 
without any fur on it. She calls it Abel. 

Ten Years Later. — They are boys; we 
found it out long ago. It was their coming in 
that small, immature shape that puzzled us; we 
were not used to it. There are some girls 
now. Abel is a good boy, but if Cain had 
stayed a bear it would have improved him. 
After all these years, I see that I was mistaken 
about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live 
outside the Garden with her than inside it with- 
out her. At first I thought she talked too 
much; but now I should be sorry to have 
234 



THE FIRST AUTHENTIC MENTION. 

that voice fall silent and pass out of my 
life. Blessed be the chestnut that brought us 
near together and taught me to know the 
goodness of her heart and the sweetness of her 
spirit ! 



'235 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

By William D. Howells. 

I. 

In the spring of i860 I wrote a life of Lin- 
coln. It was what is called a campaign life, 
and in its poor way it was a part of the elec- 
tioneering enginery of a canvass destined to 
be, if not the most memorable in our history, 
at least of the farthest efifect. To be quite 
honest, I must own that my book, as I now 
look back on the facts, probably served the 
mysterious uses, and performed the vague of- 
fices of a fifth wheel to a coach, in forwarding 
the fortunes of the man whose life it celebrated 
before he was so famous as to need no blare of 
trumpets, not to say willow whistles, evermore. 
What seems strange is that the great renown 
of Lincoln has not reacted upon one of his 

earliest biographies; that this has dropped as 
236 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

wholly in oblivion as if it was the story of no- 
body; the coach indeed arrived in glory, and 
was found to be the car of victory, the fiery 
chariot of freedom; but the fifth wheel seems 
to have stopped somewhere on the way. 

My book was published in Columbus, O., 
and I did not wait for its assured success be- 
fore setting forth upon some travels which had 
long invited me. The publisher had so much 
faith in it as to be willing to supply me in ad- 
vance with a certain sum of money, say fifty 
dollars in Ohio money, and a letter of credit, 
addressed to several publishers in Boston and 
New York, to the amount of some hundred 
and ninety dollars more. I meant to explore 
those distant capitals, and to take in the won- 
ders and delights of the St. Lawrence route 
to Quebec, and to acquaint myself with the 
manners and customs of strange peoples, so far 
as they were to be studied in Canada. For 
this journey, a great deal of money was 
needed, and I took all I had. I do not know 
why I should have thought it well to spend my 
whole substance upon this venture, but I seem 
to have done so; and I had no compunctions, 
so far as I can remember, in spending so much 
237 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

of this vast sum in Ohio money, which I then 
beHeved the best money in the world. I found 
later that it was worth only eighty-five or 
ninety cents on the dollar in Boston ; one was 
liable to these surprises in the days of State 
banking; but as yet I was troubled with no 
misgivings when I left Columbus, and took 
my way to Buffalo, where I thought I might 
fitly rest a day or two, and recruit my strength 
for the impression of Niagara which I was 
eager to receive. I spent most of this stay 
in my room at the hotel, writing letters for a 
Cincinnati paper, which had agreed to take 
them from me. The passion for summer cor- 
respondence has not yet died out of journal- 
ism, but even then I found its impulses uncer- 
tain, and many of the letters I wrote on that 
journey were never printed. I am not sure 
that this was a loss to literature; but it cer- 
tainly was a loss to me in that Ohio money 
which was the best in the world. When I was 
not writing, I was wandering about the streets 
of Buffalo, and viewing its monuments from 
the platform of a horse car, or from its pave- 
ments, not so much crowded then as now. I 
forget what the monuments were in that day; 
238 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

I even forget who were the editors of the pa- 
pers, whom I visited after the simple journal- 
istic usage of the time, and conversed with in 
their offices. But they probably had their re- 
venge, and forgot who I was much sooner. I 
recall, however, that it was all very stirring 
and interesting, and that I tried to view the 
novelties I found everywhere in the manner of 
my favorite authors, and to describe them in 
their style. The chief of these authors was 
then Heinrich Heine, and I did my best to give 
such an account of Buffalo as he would have 
written in English if he had been there in my 
place. As soon as I had completed the his- 
tory of my observations, which was more con- 
siderable than the observations themselves, I 
pushed on to Niagara Falls. 



11. 

One always experiences a vivid emotion 
from the sight of the Rapids, no matter how 
often one sees them, but I am safe in saying 
that one sees them for the first time but once. 
After that one has the feeling of a hahitui 
towards them, a sort of friendly and familiar 

339 



THE NIAQARA BOOK. 

appreciation of their terrific beauty, but cer- 
tainly not the thrill of the pristine awe. It is 
even hard to recall that : the picture remains, 
but not the sense of their mighty march, or of 
their gigantic leaps and lunges, when they 
break ranks, and their procession becomes a 
mere onward tumult without form or order. 
I had schooled myself for great impressions, 
and I did not mean to lose one of them ; they 
were all going into that correspondence which 
I was so proud to be writing, and finally, I 
hoped, they were going into literature : poems, 
sketches, studies, and I do not know what all. 
But I had not counted upon the Rapids taking 
me by the throat, as it were, and making my 
heart stop. I still think that above and below 
the Falls, the Rapids are the most striking 
features of the spectacle. At least you may 
say something about them, compare them to 
something; when you come to the Cataract it- 
self, you can say nothing; it is incomparable. 
My sense of it first, and my sense of it last, was 
not a sense of the stupendous, but a sense of 
beauty, of serenity, of repose. I have always 
had to take myself in hand, to shake myself up, 
to look twice, and recur to what I have heard 
240 



NIAQARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

and read of other people's impressions, before 
I am overpowered by it. Otherwise I am 
simply charmed. 

I hurried out to look at it, and I spent the 
afternoon in taking a careful account of my 
impressions, and trying to fit phrases to my 
emotions for that blessed correspondence. 
Then I went back to my room and began to 
put them down on paper while they were still 
warm. 

That pleasant room in the hotel is very vivid 
in my memory yet. It had a green lattice- 
door opening into the corridor, and when I 
left the inner door ajar, a delicious current of 
summer breeze and afternoon sunshine drew 
through it from the window looking out on a 
sweep of those Rapids. It was what they call 
a single room, but it seemed very spacious at 
that time, and it had a little table in it, where I 
wrote my letters to the Cincinnati paper. I 
lived two weeks in that room, and I made a 
vast deal of copy, including some poems, I be- 
lieve, which never got printed, any more than 
most of my letters, though I did not confine 
the test of their merit to one editor alone. 

1 6 241 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 



III. 



Apart from these literary enterprises of 
mine there was not a great deal to occupy me 
in the hotel. I suppose there are moments 
when the hotels at Niagara are full, but I never 
happened there at those moments, and my 
hotel at the time of the first visit was far 
from crowded, though it was in the days before 
the war when Southerners were reputed to 
visit the Falls in great numbers. We dined 
at midday to the music of a brass band, which 
must have been more than usually brazen, to 
have affected my nerves the way it did, for 
at twenty-three the nerves are not sensitive. 
Very likely there were a variety of brides and 
grooms there, but I did not know them from 
the rest : so little is one condition of life able 
to distinguish another. There was a period 
when these young couples were visible to me, 
afterwards; and then, when I was very much 
older, they vanished again, and were no more 
to be found by the eye of earlier age than by 
the eye of earlier youth. I believe I saw num- 
bers of pretty young girls, who then appeared 
to me stately and mature women, of great 
splendor and beauty, and of varying measures 
242 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

of haughty inapproachability. I made the ac- 
quaintance of no one in the hotel, but by a 
sort of afifinition, which I should now be at a 
loss to account for, I fell in with two artists 
who were painting the Falls and the Rapids, 
and the scenery generally, and I used to go 
about with them^ and watch them at their 
work. They were brothers, and very friendly 
fellows, not much older than I, and because I 
liked them, and was reaching out in every di- 
rection for the materials of greater and greater 
consciousness, I tried to see Niagara as ac- 
tively and pervasively iridescent as they did. 
They invited me to criticise their pictures in 
the presence of the facts, and I did once inti- 
mate that I failed to find all those rainbows, of 
different sizes and shapes which they had rep- 
resented on the surface of the water every- 
where. Then they pointed the rainbows out 
with their forefingers and asked. Didn't I see 
them there, and there, and there? I looked 
very hard, and as I was not going to be out- 
done in the perception of beauty, I said that 
I did see them, and I tried to believe that I saw 
them, but. Heaven knows, I never did. I hope 
this fraud will not be finally accounted against 
243 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

me. Those were charming fellows, and other 
pictures of theirs I have found so faithful that I 
am still a little shaken about the rainbows. 
My artists were from Ohio, and though I was 
too ignorant then to affirm that Ohio art was 
the best art in the world, just as Ohio money 
was the best, still I was very proud of it, and I 
suppose I renowned those invisible irides- 
cences in my letter to the Cincinnati paper. 

We walked all about the Falls, and over 
Goat Island, and to and from the Whirlpool, 
and it was a great advantage to me to be in the 
artists' company, for they knew all the loveli- 
est places, and could show me the best points 
of view. I drove nowhere, because I had a 
fear, bred of much newspaper rumor and 
humor, that my accumulated treasures would 
not hold out against the rapacity of a single 
Niagara hackman. A dollar was a dollar in 
those days, especially if it were a dollar of Ohio 
money, or at least it was so till you got to Bos- 
ton; and I was not willing to waste any of mine 
in carriage fares. But to be honest about 
those poor fellows, I always found the Niagara 
hackmen, when I visited their domain in after 
years, not only civil but reasonable, and I have 
244 




Photograph by Curtis. 



LUNA ISLAND IN WINTER. 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

never regretted the money I spent upon them ; 
it was no longer Ohio money, to be sure. 

Some places I could not walk to on that 
first visit, and as there was no suspension 
bridge then near the Falls, I took a boat when 
I wished to cross to the Canada side, and a man 
rowed me over the eddies of the river where 
they reeled away from the plunge of the Cata- 
ract. I do not think I crossed more than once, 
or had any wish to do so, after I had visited 
the battlefield of Lundy's Lane, where a vet- 
eran of the fight, so well preserved in alcohol 
that I should not be surprised if he were there 
yet, gave me an account of it from the top of 
a tower in which he seemed to be fortified. 
That poor little carnage has shrunken into so 
small a horror since the battles of the great 
war, then impending, that I feel somewhat like 
excusing the mention of it now; but when I 
visited the scene in i860, 1 was aware of several 
emotions which, if not of prime importance on 
the spot, were very capable of being worked 
up into something worth while in my letter to 
the Cincinnati paper. I tried to give them 
a Heinesque cast, and I made a good deal of 
the tipsy veteran. In the course of a literary 
245 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

life one is obliged to practise these economies, 
and I advise the beginner in our art against 
throwing away anything whatever. But what 
is the need of advising him? He would not 
be able to do so if he wished. He belongs to 
what he has seen, as much as it belongs to him, 
and he owes it a debt of expression which will 
weigh upon him till he complies with its just 
demand. The trouble is with what he has not 
seen, and decidedly he had better not be ad- 
vised against throwing that away. The more 
of that he throws away the better; and the 
reader can have very little notion how much 
he is profiting by my profusion in this respect. 

IV. 

Really, however, I did see a great many 
things at Niagara on that first visit, and I am 
sorry to say that I saw them chiefly on the 
Canada side. My patriotism has always felt 
the hurt of the fact that our great national 
cataract is best viewed from a foreign shore. 
There can be no denying, at least in a confi- 
dence like the present, that the Canadian Fall, 
if not more majestic, is certainly more massive, 
246 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

than the American. I used to watch its 
mighty wall of waters with a jealousy almost 
as green as themselves, and then try to believe 
that the knotted tumble of our Fall was finer. 
I could only make out that it had more appar- 
ent movement. But at times, and if one looked 
steadily at any part of the Cataract, the de- 
scending floods seemed to hang in arrest above 
the gulfs below. Those liquid steeps, those 
precipices of molten emerald, all broken and 
fissured with opal and crystal, seemed like 
heights of sure and firmset earth, and the mists 
that climbed them half-way were as still to the 
eye in their subtler sort. This effect of im- 
mobility is what gives its supreme beauty to 
Niagara, its repose. If there is agony there, 
it is the agony of Niobe, of the Laocoon. It 
moves the beholder, but itself it does not move. 
I spent a great deal of time trying to say 
this or something like it, which now and al- 
ways seemed to me true of Niagara, though I 
do not insist that it shall seem so to others. I 
could not see those iridescences that every- 
where illumined the waters to my artist 
friends, and very likely the reader, if he is a 

person of feeble fancy, small sympathy, and 
247 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

indifferent morals^ will find nothing of this 
Repose that I speak of in Niagara. I imagine 
him taking my page out into the presence of 
the fact, and demanding, Now where is the 
Repose ? 

Well, all that I can say is that it has always 
been there on the occasion of my visits. On 
the occasion of my first visit there was even a 
shelf of the Table Rock still there, and I went 
out and stood upon it, for the sake of saying 
that I had done so in my letter to the Cincin- 
nati paper, though I might very well have said 
it without having done so, and I am almost 
sorry that I did not, when I remember how 
few of those letters that paper printed. There 
was no great pleasure in the experience. You 
were supposed to get a particularly fine view 
of the Horse Shoe Falls, but I got no view at 
all, on account of a whim of the mist. Weeks 
earlier a large piece of the rock had fallen just 
a few moments after a carriage full of people 
had driven off it, and I did not know but an- 
other piece might fall just a few moments be- 
fore I walked off it. I was not in a carriage, 
and my portion of Table Rock did not fall till 

some three months later; that was quite soon 
248 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

enough for me; I should have preferred three 
years. 

I do not know whether it was my satisfac- 
\ tion in this hair-breadth escape or not, but I 
had sufficient spirits immediately after to join 
a group of people near by who were taking 
peeps over a precipice at something below. 
I did not know what it was, but I thought it 
might be something I could work up in my 
letters to that Cincinnati paper, and I waited 
my turn among those who were lying succes- 
sively on their stomachs and craning their 
necks over the edge; and then I saw that it was 
a man who was lying face upwards on the 
rocks below, and had perhaps been lying there 
some time. He was a very green and yellow 
melancholy of a man, as to his face, and in his 
workman's blue overalls he had a trick of 
swimming upwards to the eye of the sesthetic 
spectator, so that one had to push back with a 
hard clutch on the turf to keep from plunging 
over to meet him. I made a note of this mor- 
bid impulse for primary use in my letters to 
that Cincinnati paper, and secondary use in a 
poem, or sketch, or tale; and then I crawled 

back and went away, and was faint in secret 
249 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

for a while. It was strange how fully sufficing 
one little glimpse of that poor man was. No 
one knew who he was or how he had fallen 
over there, but after the first glance at him (I 
believe I did not give a second) I felt that we 
did not part strangers. Now I meet people at 
dinner and pass whole evenings with them, 
and cannot remember their faces so as to place 
them the next week. But I think I could 
have placed that poor man years afterwards. 
To be sure the circumstances are different, and 
I am no longer twenty-three, 

V. 

Do they still, I wonder, take people to see a 
place not far above the Canadian Fall, where a 
vein of natural gas vents itself amid the trouble 
of the waters, and the custodian sets fire to it 
with a piece of lighted newspaper? They 
used to do that, if you paid them a quarter, in 
a little pavilion built over the place to shut out 
the unpaying public. By comparison with the 
great gas wells which I saw in combustion 
long after at Findlay, this was a very feeble 

rush Hght conflagration indeed, but it had the 
250 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

merit of being much more mysterious. I, for 
instance, did not know it was natural gas, or 
what it was, and the custodian sagely would 
not say; the mystery was probably part of his 
stock in trade. There were many mysteries, 
maintained at a profit, about Niagara then, 
and not the least of them was Terrapin Tower, 
which stood at the brink of the American Fall, 
and was reached by a series of stepping stones 
and bridges amidst the rapids. The mystery 
of this was that any human being should wish 
to go up it, at the risk of his life, but every- 
body did. I myself found a bridal couple (of 
the third espousals) in it when I ventured a 
vast deal of potential literature in its frail keep- 
ing; no terrapin, I fancy, was ever so rash as 
to ascend it, from the day it was built to the 
day it was taken away. What is so amusing 
now to think of, though not so amusing then, 
is that all the while I was clambering about 
those heights and brinks, I was suffering from 
an inveterate vertigo, which made plain 
ground rather difficult for me at times. At 
odd moments it became necessary for me to 
lay hold of something and stay the reeling 
world; and the recurrence of these exigencies 
251 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

finally decided me against venturing into the 
Cave of the Winds. Upon the whole I am 
glad I did not penetrate it, for now I can think- 
it what I Hke, and if I had seen it I probably 
could not do that. I compromised by de- 
scending the Biddle Stairs, which had a rail to 
hold on by, and which, I have no doubt, 
amount to much the same thing as the Cave 
of the Winds. At any rate, when I got to the 
bottom of them, I wondered why in the world 
I had come down. 

I do not know whether under the present 
socialistic regime, or state control, of the Falls, 
there are so many marvels shown as under the 
old system of private enterprise. But I am 
sure that their number could have been greatly 
reduced, with advantage to the visitor. If you 
find a marvel advertised, and you learn that 
you cannot see it without paying a quarter, 
every coin upon your person begins to burn in 
an intense sympathy with your curiosity, and 
you cannot be content till you have seen that 
marvel. This was the principle of human na- 
ture upon which private capital had counted, 
and it did not matter that the Falls themselves 

were enough to glut the utmost greed of won- 

252 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

der. Their prodigious character was eked 
out by every factitious device to which the 
penalty of twenty-five cents could be attached. 
I remember that at the entrance of Prospect 
Park, if not within the sacred grove, a hardy 
adventurer had pitched his tent and announced 
the presence of a five-legged calf within its 
canvas walls, in active competition with the 
great Cataract. I paid my quarter (my Ohio 
money was all paper, or I might have thought 
twice about it) in order to make sure that this 
calf was in no wise comparable to Niagara. I 
do not say that the picture of the calf on the 
outside of the tent was not as good as some 
pictures of Niagara that I have seen. It was 
at least as much like. 

I hope that all this is not decrying the attrac- 
tions of any worthy adjunct of the Cataract, 
such as the Whirlpool. There is of course 
no other such, and I was proud and glad to 
believe that the Whirlpool was chiefly on the 
American side, or the first part of it, or was 
at first nearly if not solely accessible from our 
territory ; and I did not find out till long after 
that I was wrong. The Whirlpool, seen from 
the heights around it, has that effect of sculp- 
253 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

turesque repose which I have always found the 
finest thing in the Cataract itself. Like that it 
is impassioned, while the Rapids are passion- 
ate. From the top the circling lines of the 
Whirlpool seemed graven in a level of chal- 
cedony; the illusion of arrest was so perfect 
that I was almost sorry ever to have lost it, 
though I do not know what I could have done 
with it if I had kept it. I duly studied my 
phrases about it for my letters to that Cincin- 
nati paper, and it is probably from some of 
them, printed or unprinted, that I speak now. 
These things linger long in the mind ; and it is 
not always from frugality that the observer of 
the picturesque uses the same terms again and 
again. Happily, I am not obliged to describe 
the Whirlpool to the reader, as I was then, and 
I have no impression to impart except this 
sense of its worthy unity with the Cataract in 
what I may call its highest aesthetic quality, 
its repose. 

VI. 

If the reader does not believe in this, he may 
go and look; but there is one fact of this first 
visit of mine to Niagara which he must help- 

254 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

lessly take my word for. That fact is Blondin, 
who is closely allied in my mind with the 
Whirlpool, because I saw him cross the river 
above the frantic Rapids not far from it. If 
this association is too mechanical, too ma- 
terial, then I will go farther, and say that when 
Blondin had got such a distance into the dan- 
ger, he, too, became an illusion of Repose; and 
I defy the most sceptical reader, who was not 
then present, to gainsay me. 

Why those rapids just below the large Sus- 
pension Bridge were chosen to stretch Blon- 
din's cable over, I do not know, unless it was 
because the river narrows to a gorge there, 
and because those rapids are more horrid, in 
the eighteenth-century sense, than any other 
feature of Niagara. They have been a great 
deal exploited since Blondin's time by adven- 
turers who have attempted to swim them, and 
to navigate them in barrels and buoys and 
India-rubber balls, or if not quite India-rubber 
balls, I do not know why. But at that time no 
craft but the Maid of the Mist, the little steam- 
boat which used to run up to the foot of the 
cataract, had ever dared them. She, indeed, 
flying from the perennial pun involved in her 
255 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

name, not to mention the sheriffs officer who 
had an attachment for her, weathered the 
rapids and passed in and out of the Whirlpool, 
and escaped into the quiet of Canadian waters, 
with the pilot and her engineer on board. 
Afterwards I saw her at Quebec, where she had 
changed her name, as other American refugees 
in Canada have done, and had now become the 
Maid of Orleans, in recognition of her peace- 
ful employ of carrying people to and from the 
Isle of Orleans. But her adventurous voy- 
age was still fresh on the lips of guides and 
hackmen when I was first at Niagara, and I 
looked at the Rapids and the Whirlpool with 
an interest peculiarly fearful because of it. 

As usual, I walked to the scene of the ex- 
ploit I was about to witness, but there were a 
good many people walking, and they debated 
on the way whether Blondin would cross that 
day or not. It had been raining over night, 
and some said his cable was not in condition; 
others, that the guys which stayed it on either 
side were too slack, or too taut from the wet. 
Nevertheless, we found a great crowd on the 
Canada shore, which seemed to command the 
best view of Blondin as well as of Niagara, and 
256 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

the American shore was dense with specta- 
tors, too. As the hour drew near for Blondin 
to do his feat^ we were lost in greater and 
greater doubt whether he would do it or not, 
and perhaps if a vote had been taken the scep- 
tics would have carried the day, when he sud- 
denly danced out upon the cable before our 
unbelieving eyes. 

The dizzy path was of the bigness of a ship's 
cable, at the shore, but it seemed to dwindle 
to a thread where it sank over the centre of 
the gulf, down toward those tusked and froth- 
ing breakers. They seemed to jump at it, like 
a pack of maddened wolves, and to pull one 
another back, and then to tumble and flow 
away, forever different, forever the same. The 
strong guys starting from the rocks of the 
precipice and the level of the rapids could stay 
it, after all, only a little part of its length, and 
beneath them and up through them, the black 
cedars thrust their speary tops, with that slant 
toward the middle of the gorge, which must 
be from the pull of the strong draft between 
its walls. They made a fine contrast of color 
with the floods breaking snowy white from 
their bulks of glassy green; and for the rest 
17 257 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

there was the perfect blue of the summer 
heaven over all. 

There was no testing of the guys, whethep 
they were slack or taut, or of the cable, 
whether it was in condition, and in fact no one 
thought of either, such was the surprise of see- 
ing that pink figure of a man spring out into 
space from some source which I, at least, had 
not observed. He was in the conventional 
silk fleshings of the rope-dancer, and he car- 
ried a very long balancing pole. At first there 
was some reality in the apparition. One felt 
he was a fellow-man about to dare death for 
our amusement, but as he began to run down 
the slope of the cable toward the centre, one 
rapidly lost this sense^ and beheld him as a 
mere feature of the general prospect. Per- 
haps he was aware of this effect and chose to 
startle us back to our consciousness of his hu- 
manity, or perhaps it was a wonted trick, in- 
tended to heighten the interest of the specta- 
cle. At any rate, in the very middle of the 
river, he seemed suddenly to falter, and he 
swayed from side to side as if he were going 
to fall. A sort of groan went through the 
crowd, and several women fainted. Then 
258 



mAQABA, FIRST AND LAST. 

Blondin made believe to recover himself, and 
began to climb the slope of his cable to the 
further shore. I do not know just how far 
this was, but I think it may have been well on 
to half a mile; as to the height above the rapids 
where the cable hung it looked like a hundred 
and fifty feet. I made some vague notes of 
these matters after Blondin vanished into the 
crowd beyond, but there was not much time 
for conjecture. He came into sight again al- 
most at once, a little puppet, running down 
the farther slope of the cable, and growing a 
little and a little larger as he drew near. Pres- 
ently one noticed that he had left his balancing 
pole behind, and was tripping forward with 
outstretched arms. 

I stood where I could see him well, on his 
return, and I looked at him with something 
of the interest one might feel in a man who 
had come back from the dead and had put on 
his earthly personality again. I do not re- 
member his face, which was no doubt as good 
or as bad a face as any mountebank's or mon- 
arch's, but his feet seemed to me the very most 
intelligent feet in the world, pliable, sinuous, 
clinging, educated in every fibre, and full of 
259 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

spiritual sentience. They had the air of know- 
ing that the whole man was trusted to them, 
and, such as he was, that he was in their pow&r 
and keeping along. They rose and fell upon 
the cable with an exquisite accuracy, and a 
delicate confidence which had nothing fool- 
hardy in it. Blondin's head might take risks, 
but it was clear that Blondin's feet took none; 
whatever they did they did wittingly, and with 
a full forecast of the chances and consequences. 
They were imaginably such feet as Isaac Tay- 
lor conjectures we may have in another life, 
where the intellect shall not be seated in the 
brain alone, but shall be issued to every part of 
the body, and present in every joint and limb. 
They were an immense consolation to me, 
those feet, and when Blondin went tripping 
gayly out upon them over his rope again, I 
breathed much more freely than I had before; 
they had, as it were, personall}' reassured me, 
and given me their honor that nothing should 
happen to him; those feet and I had a sort of 
common understanding about him, and I do 
not think they respected him any more than I 
did for risking his life in that manner. He 
went down the rope and up the rope, dwin- 
260 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

dling from a pink man to a pink puppet as be- 
fore, and going to nothing in the crowd. Then 
he came to something once more, and began 
to grow from a puppet into a man again, but 
with something odd about him. He had re- 
sumed his balancing pole, and he had some- 
thing strange on his feet, those wise feet, and, 
as he drew nearer, we could see that he had 
wooden buckets on them, of about the bigness 
of butter firkins; I tell it, not expecting much 
to be believed, for I did not believe it when I 
saw it. But till he arrived, I could say to 
myself that there were no bottoms in those 
buckets, and that his sagacious feet, though 
somewhat impeded, had still no doubt a good 
chance to save him, if he lost his head, and 
would be equal to any common emergency. 
That was the opinion of everyone about me, 
and though I knew how vexed with him the 
feet must be, I did not wholly lose patience 
till I was told by one who saw the buckets 
after Blondin stepped out of them, that they 
had wooden bottoms like any other butter 
firkins. Then I was glad that I did not see his 
feet again, for I could imagine the look of cold 
disgust, the look of haughty injury they must 
261 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

wear at having been made privy to such a 
mere brutal audacity. 

The man himself looked cool and fresh' 
enough, but I, who was not used to such vio- 
lent fatigues as he must have undergone in 
these three transits, was bathed in a cold per- 
spiration, and so weak and worn with making 
them in sympathy that I could scarcely walk 
away. 

Long afterwards I was telling about this 
experience of mine — it was really more mine 
than Blondin's — in the neat shop of a Venetian 
pharmacist, to a select circle of the physicians 
who wait in such places in Venice for the call 
of their patients. One of these civilized men, 
for all comment, asked : " Where was the 
government? " and I answered in my barbar- 
ous pride of our individualism, " The govern- 
ment had nothing to do with it. In America 
the government has nothing to do with such 
things." 

But now I think that this Venetian was 
right, and that such a show as I have tried to 
describe ought no more to have been per- 
mitted than the fight of a man with a wild 

beast. It was an offence to morality, and it 
262 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

thinned the frail barrier which the aspiration 
of centuries has slowly erected between hu- 
manity and savagery. But for the time being 
I made no such reflections. I got back to my 
hotel and hastened to send off a whole letter 
about Blondin to that Cincinnati paper; and 
to this day I do not know whether they ever 
printed it or not. I try to make fun of it now, 
but it was not funny then. All the way round 
on that tour, my view of the wonders of nature 
and the monuments of man was obscured by 
my anxiety concerning the letters I wrote to 
that Cincinnati paper; and at all the hotels 
where I stopped I hurried to examine the files 
of the reading-room and see whether it had 
kept faith with me or not. Across many years, 
across graves not a few, I can reach and recall 
the hurt vanity, the just resentment, and the 
baffled hope that were bound up in that early 
experience of editorial frailty. 

VIL 

My first visit to Niagara was paid in the 
midsummer of the year, and the midsummer 

of my life. All nature was rich and beautifully 

263 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

alive amid scenes which I think are of her 
noblest. There were places where the fresh 
scent of the waters was mixed with the fra- 
grance of wild flowers; the birds which sang 
inaudibly in the immediate roar of the Cataract 
made themselves sweetly heard in the heart of 
Goat Island. Everywhere there were pretty 
young girls, in the hats which they were then 
beginning to wear after a long regime of bon- 
nets, and their hats had black plumes in them 
that drooped down as near to the cheeks of the 
pretty young girls as they could get. 

I can scarcely help heaving a sigh for the 
wrinkles in those cheeks which the plumes, if 
they still drooped instead of sticking militantly 
up on the front and back of the hats, would 
not be so eager to caress now; but I will not 
insist a great deal upon a sort of sigh which 
has been often known in print already. I 
think it much more profitable to note that all 
the entourage of Niagara was then private 
property, and was put to those money-making 
uses at the expense of the public which form 
one of the holiest attributes of that sacred 
thing. I never greatly objected to the paper- 
mills on Goat Island; they were impertinent 
264 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

to the scenery, of course, but they were pic- 
turesque, with their low-lying, weather-worn 
masses in the shelter of the forest trees, beside 
the brawling waters. But nearly every other 
assertion of private rights in the landscape was 
an outrage to it. I will not even try to recall 
the stupid and squalid contrivances which de- 
faced it at every point, and extorted a coin 
from the insulted traveller at every turn. They 
are all gone now, and in the keeping of the 
State the whole redeemed and disenthralled 
vicinity of Niagara is an object lesson in what 
public ownership, whenever it comes, does for 
beauty. 

I had the eagerness of a true believer to see 
this result, and even before I went to look at 
the cataract on my last visit a winter ago, I 
drove about and made sure from the liberated 
landscape that the people were in possession 
of their own. It was wonderful, even in mid- 
winter, the difference in dignity and prosperity 
that not so much appeared as seemed to re- 
appear, and to find in the beholder's conscious- 
ness a sense of what that divine prospect must 
have been when the eye of the white man first 
gazed upon it. The landscape had got back 
265 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

something of its youth, and in my joy in it I 
got back something of mine. 

I do not say that I got much. At fifty, one' 
is at least not twice as young as at twenty-five. 
But I was very fairly young again when I came 
to Niagara in the midwinter of my midwinter 
year, and I was certainly as impatient as I 
could have been a quarter of a century earlier 
to see the ice-bridge below the Falls and the 
ice-cone that their breath had formed ; in fact, 
I had waited a good deal longer to see them. 
Shall I own that at first sight these were a 
disappointment? At first sight the Falls 
themselves are a disappointment, for we come 
to them with something other than the image 
of their grand and simple adequacy in our 
minds, and seek to match them with that dis- 
tempered invention of the ignorant fancy. I 
had supposed the ice-cone was a sharp peak, 
jutting up in front of the Cataract, not reflect- 
ing that it must be what it always is, a rounded 
knoll, built up finely, finely, slowly, slowly, out 
of the spectral shapes of mist, seized by the 
frost and flung down upon the frozen river. 
When you remember tha.t this ice-cone is 
formed of the innumerable falls of these ghosts, 
266 




THE BREAKING OF THE ICE BRIDGE. 




Photographs by H. Wilson Saunders. 
THE ICE BRIDGE. 



NIAGARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

I think one ought to be content with the 
Romanesque dome-shape of the mound, how- 
ever Gothic one's expectation may have been. 
I do not deny that I should still prefer the pin- 
nacle, but that is because I prefer Gothic archi- 
tecture; and I advise the reader not to hope for 
it. If he has a pleasure in delicate decoration, 
the closely stippled slopes of the ice-cone will 
give it to him; it is like that fine jeweller's work 
on the grain of dead gold where the whole sur- 
face is fretted with infinitesimal points. When 
these catch the sun of such a blue midwinter 
sky as lifted its speckless arch above the ice- 
cone on the day I saw it, the effect is all that 
one has a right to ask of mere nature. I am 
trying to hint that I would have built the ice- 
cone somewhat differently, if it had been left 
to me, but that I am not hypercritical. If it 
seems a little low, a little lumpish in the retro- 
spect, still it has its great qualities, which I 
should be the last in refusing to recognize. 

The name ice-bridge had deceived me, but 
the ice-bridge did not finally disappoint me. 
It is not a bridge at all. It is the channel of 
the river blocked as far as the eye can see down 

the gorge with huge squares and oblongs of 
267 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ice, or of frozen snow, as they seem, and giving 
a realizing effect to all the remembered pic- 
tures of arctic scenery. This was curiously 
heightened by some people with sleds among 
the crowds, making their way through the ice 
pack from shore to shore; there wanted only 
the fierce dash of some Esquimaux dog-team 
and the impression would have been perfect. 
It was best to look down upon it all from the 
cliffs, when at times the effect was more than 
arctic, when it was lunar: you could fancy 
yourself gazing upon the face of a dead world, 
or rather a plaster mask of it, with these small 
black figures of people crawling over it like 
flies. It was perfectly still that day, and in 
spite of the diapason of the Falls, an inner si- 
lence possessed the air. From the cliffs along 
the river the cedars thrust outward, armored 
in plates of ice, like the immemorial effigies of 
old-time warriors, and every cascade that had 
flung its bannerol of mist to the summer air, 
was now furled to the face of the rock and 
frozen fast. Again a sense of the repose, which 
is the secret of Niagara's charm, filled me. 

There was repose even in the peculiar trajfilic 
of Niagara when we penetrated to a shop de- 
268 



NIAaARA, FIRST AND LAST. 

voted to the sale of its bric-a-brac for some 
photographs of the winter scenery, and we 
fancied a weird surprise and a certain statu- 
esque reluctance in the dealer. But this may- 
have been merely our fancy. I would insist 
only upon the mute immobility of the birds on 
the feather fans behind the glazed shelves, and 
a mystical remoteness in the Japanese objects 
mingled with the fabrics of our own Indians 
and the imported feldspar cups and vases. 

Our train went back to Buffalo through the 
early winter sunset, crimson and crimsoner 
over the rapids, and then purple over the ice 
where the river began to be frozen again. This 
color was so intense that the particles of ice 
along the brink were like a wilding growth of 
violets — those candied violets you see at the 
confectioner's. 



269 



AS IT RUSHES BY. 

By E. S. Martin. 

The great Northwest has two ways of reach- 
ing tide-water. It filters down the Mississippi, 
losing impetus as it goes southward, until, too 
much enervated to dig itself a channel, it rolls 
sluggishly on between artificial levees and 
slips unobtrusively into the Gulf by a dozen 
different passages. The farther south it goes 
the more irresponsible it becomes and the 
more need it has of assistance. To get it safely 
emptied is a constant care, calling for perpet- 
ual labor and Congressional appropriations. 
At the least neglect it slops lazily over, and 
settles down on the surrounding country. 

How differently it comes East, navigating 
the great western lakes one after another, and 
finally crowding impetuously into the Niagara 
River and over its precipice with a roar and a 
jarring crash, and then out through Ontario 
and the swift St. Lawrence to the Ocean! 
270 



A8 IT BUSHES BY. 

Journeying southward it blends imperceptibly 
with the region it traverses, so that it is hard 
to say where the West leaves ofif and the South 
begins. But it drops down upon the East 
with an enormous plunge that leaves no doubt 
of the whereabouts of the line of demarcation. 
Beyond Niagara is the West. Here the East 
begins, equal to the West in energy and vim, 
but different. The West never merges with 
the East as it does with the South. It comes 
to Niagara in overwhelming force and thun- 
ders at its gates, and then rolls off northeast- 
erly and out through the British provinces. It 
asks nothing of man except to be let alone. 
It has dug its own channel with its own tools, 
and formed itself a basin of ample size to hold 
it. It is responsible, self-reliant, fully able to 
take care of itself, and ever ready to do any 
odd jobs that offer as it surges along. It 
seems to gather energy from the invigorating 
influences that meet it in its progress. 

Colonel Ingersoll came to Niagara one day 
and looked at the tribute of the great North- 
west as it surged by, and said : " Niagara Falls 
is a dangerous place." 

There was disparagement in the Colonel's 
271 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

tone, and disparagement is something to 
which Niagara is not much used. Whatever 
native it was that heard him stared and asked r 
" Do you mean the hackmen ? " 

" No! " said the eminent. orator. " I mean 
those great rushing waters. There is nothing 
attractive to me in them. They are really dan- 
gerous. There is so much noise; so much 
tumult. It is simply a mighty force of nature, 
one of those tremendous powers which is to 
be feared for its danger." 

The native's eyebrows went up at that. It 
is true enough that the Niagara River is not 
one that a cautious person would care to navi- 
gate, particularly above the Falls, but the 
Colonel, though not anchored to anything, 
was at least on firm land. The reflection sug- 
gested itself, that he had imperfectly diagnosed 
his own sensations, and that his dissatisfaction, 
which was obviously genuine, really sprung 
from the traditional disagreement of two of a 
trade. How could an orator be edified by a 
tone besides which his own best utterance was 
but a squeak? To make impressions is the 
orator's business, not to receive them. But at 
Niagara, Nature does the talking and has her 
272 



A8 IT BUSHES BY. 

say out, and man's part is to listen and to di- 
gest. It was a high compHment that the great 
talker paid to the river by his instinctive dis- 
approval, and perfectly consistent with his 
point of view were his continuing remarks : 

" What I like in Nature is a cultivated field 
where men can work in the free, open air; 
where there is quiet and repose, not turmoil, 
strife, tumult, fearful roar, or struggle for mas- 
tery. I do not like the crowded, stuffy work- 
shop where life is a slavery and drudgery, 
where men are slaves. Give me the calm, 
cultivated land of waving grain, of flowers, of 
happiness." 

So spoke the man of superabundant energy, 
not unnaturally perferring scenes that seem to 
require some stirring up to those where all the 
requisite agitation comes ready furnished to 
hand. It is true that to the professional regu- 
lator, Niagara bristles with discouragement. 
There is comparatively little left there for man 
to do. To keep his hands ofif and let Nature 
take her course is the chief boon that is asked 
of him. But it is about the last place in the 
world to be compared to a stufify workshop 
where men are slaves. Indeed, the very pith 

i8 273 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

of its contrast to the " cultivated land of wav- 
ing grain " lies in the absence here of con- 
spicuous signs of human labor. Work was 
traditionally imposed upon man for his sins. 
Even if the natural man is not rightfully lazy, 
he is at least entitled to love leisure, and prefer 
the minimum of toil. Surely Niagara is fit to 
refresh his jaded spirit. If he sighs at the foot 
of the Pyramids to think of the vast industry 
that was the cost of their construction, he is 
conversely entitled to exult at the resistless 
might of the Niagara River emptying its floods 
into its self-chiselled gorge. Only the planets 
wandering in their courses, harnessed to the 
sun, are so fit to stir an exultation of repose. 
Laborious man sits on our river's brink and 
meditates on the great spectacle of labor 
saved. The Falls must go themselves. Within 
the memory of man it has never been found 
needful even in the dryest times to operate 
them by artificial means. In sight or out of 
sight there is no apparatus for pumping water 
back into Lake Erie to keep the Cataract go- 
ing. Neither has it ever been found necessary 
to dam the lake to keep the water from run- 
ning out, nor to bail it out to keep it from run- 
274 




Photograph by Nielson. 



THE CAVE OF THE WINDS IN WINTER. 



AS IT BUSHES BY. 

ning over. Nature has done everything. The 
lake is always full, the river never ceases 
to drain it. The precipice that the torrent 
goes over is not absolutely permanent or 
changeless, but like the rest of the appara- 
tus it takes care of itself, asking nothing of 
man but to stand from under when its fea- 
tures shift. 

The great lesson of Niagara is to maintain 
a respectful attitude towards Nature. She is 
irresistible; not to be thwarted, not to be 
turned aside. It is our affair to study her 
courses, to get out of her way when she wants 
the whole road, and to make her do our work 
by the simple expedient of making our desires 
consistent with her methods. 

In this feature of the Falls He their special 
adaptation to be gazed upon by young per- 
sons who have just entered the married state 
and assumed the more serious burdens of life. 
It is not accident that brings the newly mar- 
ried to Niagara. It is instinct. It is good for 
them to be here, and some subtle influence has 
taught them to know it. Seeking for enter- 
tainment not to be laboriously won, but of a 
sort that stimulates the faculties while it pro- 
275 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

motes reflection, they find it here. The river 
entertains them. It speaks to them in contin- 
uous discourse without exacting any reply. It 
distracts their attention gently from one an- 
other, which is a kindness, and when they 
speak together it prevents alien ears from 
overhearing what they say. It is uniformly 
kind to them — so long as they hug the bank 
— and then it gives them so many useful points 
for the shaping of their future destinies! It 
teaches them to let things slide when opposi- 
tion will do no good. It stands to them for 
the resistless stream of life which sweeps us 
-all over its falls first or last, so that it pays us 
to float tranquilly while we may and not mar 
so brief a passage with altercation. The in- 
dividuality of so impetuous a flood can hardly 
fail to make its impression on them, suggest- 
ing that every individuality, even that of a 
married woman, has a right to its own devel- 
opment, and comes swifter and safer to a tran- 
quil haven if left reasonably free to follow out 
its natural course. 

But only dense men bully their wives any- 
way, and possibly such men are too impervious 

to instruction to gather the wisdom of Niagara 
276 



AS IT RUSHES BY. 



as it rushes by. But its wisdom is always 
there for those who can seize it, and for all 
coming time its banks promise to be trod by 
men and women who have need at least to try. 



277 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAG- 
ARA FALLS. 

By Rev. Thomas R. Slicer. 

The earliest description in literature of the 
Falls of Niagara was made by the priest and 
historian Father Hennepin, the associate of 
the explorer La Salle, who built, in 1679, the 
Griffin, to which appertains the honor of being 
the first vessel to sail the Great Lakes. 

The reference is entitled " A description of 
the Fall of the River Niagara which is to be 
seen betwixt the Lake Ontario and that of 
Erie." 

We give the commonly accepted version : 

" Betwixt the Lake Ontario and Erie, there 
is a vast and prodigious Cadence of Water, 
which falls down after a surprising and aston- 
ishing manner, insomuch that the Universe 
does not afford its parallel. 'Tis true, Italy 
and Suedeland boast of some such things; but 
278 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

we may well say they are but sorry patterns, 
when compared to this of which we now speak. 
At the foot of this horrible Precipice, we meet 
with the River Niagara, which is not above a 
quarter of a league broad, but is wonderfully 
deep in some places. It is so rapid above this 
Descent, that it violently hurries down the 
wild beasts while endeavoring to pass it to feed 
on the other side, they not being able to with- 
stand the force of its Current which inevitably 
casts them headlong above six hundred feet 
high. 

" This wonderful Downfall is compounded 
of two cross-streams of Water, and two Falls, 
with an isle sloping along the middle of it. 
The waters which fall from this horrible Preci- 
pice do foam and boyl after the most hideous 
manner imaginable, making an outrageous 
noise, more terrible than that of Thunder; for 
when the wind blows out of the South, their 
dismal roaring may be heard more than Fif- 
teen Leagues off. 

" The River Niagara having thrown itself 

down this incredible Precipice, continues its 

impetuous course for Two Leagues together, 

to the great Rock above mentioned, with inex-; 

279 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

pressible rapidity. But having passed that, its 
impetuosity relents, gliding along more gently 
for the other Two Leagues, till it arrives at the 
Lake Ontario or Frontenac. 

" Any Bark or greater Vessel may pass from 
the Fort to the foot of this huge Rock above 
mentioned. This Rock lies to the Westward, 
and is cut off from the Land by the River Ni- 
agara about Two Leagues farther down than 
the great Fall, for which Two Leagues the 
people are obliged to transport their goods 
overland; but the way is very good, and the 
Trees are very few, chiefly Firs and Oakes. 

" From the great Fall unto this Rock, which 
is to the West of the River, the two brinks of 
it are so prodigious high, that it would make 
one tremble to look steadily upon the water, 
rolling along with a rapidity not to be im- 
agined. Were it not for this vast Cataract, 
which interrupts Navigation, they might sail 
with Barks or greater Vessels, more than Four 
Hundred and Fifty Leagues, crossing the Lake 
of Hurons, and reaching even to the farther 
end of the Lake of Illinois, which two Lakes 
we may easily say are little Seas of fresh 
Water." 

280 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

There are other accounts by Tonti, Hontan, 
and other early voyagers, but they are not 
especially to the purpose of this recital. 

At the beginning of the present century, 
there limped, with an ankle sprained, to the 
shores of Lake Erie, from the borders of the 
forest, a young Englishman, whose tastes and 
conceit were in strong contrast to the primitive 
simplicity of the scene on which he entered. 

Perhaps no greater tribute has ever been 
paid to the charm of the Falls of Niagara than 
is suggested by the fact that they reconciled 
the mind of Tom Moore to the disgusting ex- 
periences of travel in America, where, to his 
thinking, the promiscuous huddling together 
of all sorts of people in the stage-coaches was 
a symbol of the mixed character of a Republi- 
can Government. A man who had been petted 
by an indulgent family and flattered by a social 
circle, which sang his songs and laughed at 
his wit, found the unsettled society of the New 
World not easy to adjust to his fastidious 
taste ; he had done us the honor to look over 
our country, and had served it up in his letters 
as "an interesting world, which with all the 

defects and disgusting peculiarities of its na- 
281 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

tives, gives every promise of no very distant 
competition with the first powers of the East- 
ern hemisphere." 

When the valleys of the Mohawk, and the 
Genesee had been traversed, Moore was so 
much touched by their natural beauty that he 
exclaims : " Such scenery as there is around 
me ! it is quite dreadful that any heart, born for 
sublimities, should be doomed to breathe away 
its hours amidst the miniature productions of 
this world, without seeing what shapes nature 
can assume, what wonders God can give birth 
to." 

But he had not yet seen the Falls. He is 
about to start upon his journey to the Falls of 
Niagara in a wagon. On July 22d he sends 
back by the driver of the wagon a letter to be 
forwarded to his mother, written from upper 
Chippewa : " Just arrived within a mile and a 
half of the Falls of Niagara, and their tremen- 
dous roar at this moment sounding in my 
ears." Two days later he writes : " I have seen 
the Falls, and am all rapture and amazement. 
. . . Arrived at Chippewa within three 
miles of the Falls to dinner Saturday, July 
2 1 St. That evening walked toward the Falls, 
282 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

but got no further than the Rapids, which gave 
us a preHbation of the grandeur we had to 
expect. 

" Next day, Sunday, July 226., went to visit 
the Falls. Never shall I forget the impres- 
sions I felt at the first glimpse of them which 
we got as the carriage passed over the hill that 
overlooks them. We were not near enough 
to be agitated by the terrific effects of the 
scene, but saw through the trees this mighty 
flow of waters descending with calm mag- 
nificence, and received enough of its grandeur 
to set imagination on the wing; imagination 
which even at Niagara can outrun reality. 

" I felt as if approaching the very residence 
of the Deity; the tears started into my eyes; 
and I remained for moments after we had lost 
sight of the scene, in that delicious absorption 
which pious enthusiasm alone can produce. 
We arrived at the New Ladder and descended 
to the bottom. Here all its awful sublimities 
rushed full upon me. But the former ex- 
quisite sensation was gone. I now saw all. 
The string that had been touched by the first 
impulse, and which fancy would have kept for- 
ever in vibration, now rested at Reality. Yet 
283 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

though there was no more to imagine, there 
was much to feel. . My whole heart and soul 
ascended toward the Divinity in a swell of de- 
vout admiration, which I never before ex- 
perienced. . . . Oh ! bring the Atheist 
here, and he cannot return an Atheist ! " 

The chief value of these attempts at descrip- 
tion is not that they describe or fail to describe 
this natural phenomenon, but that they do de- 
scribe the mind of the beholder; for it is ever a 
fact that when a great subject is dealt with by 
the human mind we get a double lesson; if the 
mind be competent we get a description of the 
subject, but in any event we get a portrait of 
the mind. In no instance does this more ap- 
pear than in the contrasting way in which Ni- 
agara claimed the attention of three noted 
women : Mrs. Jameson, Harriet Martineau, 
and Margaret Fuller. One would suppose 
that Mrs. Jameson's sense of beauty in art 
would have prepared her mind for at least an 
esctasy; or was it that her mind, already winged 
for the flights of imagination, and used to deal- 
ing with art-forms in the galleries of Europe, 
did not find it easy to place itself en rapport 
284 




Photograph by Curtis. 



MOONLIGHT. 



FAMOUS YI8IT0R8 AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

with a canvas so large as that on which the 
beauties of Niagara are painted by an unseen 
hand, in colors which are never two moments 
alike. Whatever may be the psychological 
reason, it is necessary to relate that Mrs. 
Jameson would rather not have seen Niagara. 
It was in 1837 that her visit was made to the 
Falls in the last part of January of that year. 
When she had stood face to face with them she 
exclaims : " Well, I have seen these cataracts 
of Niagara which have thundered in my mind's 
ear ever since I can remember — which have 
been my childhood's thought, my youth's de- 
sire, since first my imagination was awakened 
to wonder and to wish. I have beheld them, 
and shall I whisper it to you — but, O tell it not 
among the Philistines — I wish I had not! I 
wish they were still a thing to behold, a thing 
to be imagined, hoped, and anticipated, some- 
thing to live for — the reality has displaced 
from my mind an illusion far more magnificent 
than itself. I have no words for my disap- 
pointment, yet I have not the presumption to 
suppose that all I have heard and read of 
Niagara is false or exaggerated — that every 

expression of astonishment, enthusiasm, rap- 

285 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ture is affectation or hyperbole. No; it must 
be my own fault. Terni, and some of the 
Swiss cataracts leaping from their mountains, 
have affected me a thousand times more than 
all the immensity of Niagara. Oh, I could 
beat myself, and now there is no help — the 
first moment, the first impression, is over — is 
lost; something is gone that cannot be re- 
stored. What has come over my soul and 
senses? I am no longer Anna — I am meta- 
morphosed — I am translated — I am an ass's 
head, a clod, a wooden spoon, a fat weed grow- 
ing on Lethe's bank, a stock, a stone, a petri- 
faction, for have I not seen Niagara, the won- 
der of wonders, and felt — no words can tell 
what disappointment ! 

" My Imagination had been so impressed by 
the vast height of the Falls that I was con- 
stantly looking in an upward direction, when, 
as we came to the brow of the hill, my com- 
panion suddenly checked the horses, and ex- 
claimed, ' The Falls ! ' I was not for an in- 
stant aware of their presence; we were yet at a 
distance looking dozvn upon them; and I saw 
at one glance a flat, extensive plain; the sun 
having withdrawn its beams for a moment, 
286 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

there was neither light nor shade nor color. 
In the midst were seen the two great cataracts, 
but merely as a feature in the wide landscape. 
The sound was by no means overpowering. 
And the clouds of spray which Fannie Butler 
called so beautifully the ' everlasting incense of 
the waters,' now condensed, ere they rose, by 
the excessive cold, fell round the base of the 
cataracts in fleecy folds, just concealing that 
furious embrace of the waters above and the 
waters below. 

" All the associations which in imagination 
I had gathered round the scene, its appalling 
terrors, its soul-subduing beauty, power, and 
height, and velocity, and immensity, were all 
diminished in efifect, or wholly lost. I was 
quite silent — my soul sank within me." It 
would seem from the account of Mrs. Jameson 
that she had a most practical mind, for she was 
evidently delighted by the fact that a " little 
Yankee boy, with a shrewd, sharp face and 
twinkling black eyes, could not palm off a flock 
of gulls on her for eagles." The one sense of 
comfort that visited her arises from the fact 
that though the Falls were not complementary 

to her mood, the smart boy was complimentary 
287 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

to her smartness, saying, " Well, now you be 
dreadful smart — smarter than many folks that 
come here." She tried the Falls from every' 
point and found them from every point of 
view equally trying, and confesses at last, 
" The Falls did not make on my mind the im- 
pression that I had anticipated, perhaps for 
that reason, even because I had anticipated it; 
but ' it was sung to me in my cradle,' as the 
Germans say, that I should live to be disap- 
pointed even in the Falls of Niagara," 

No two women could have been more un- 
like than Mrs. Jameson and Margaret Fuller, 
and yet one is haunted with the feeling that 
although Mrs. Jameson has so eloquently de- 
scribed " Art, sacred and legendary," Mar- 
garet Fuller was no less than Mrs. Jameson a 
soul sensitive to all influences of Art; but she 
lifts her eyes to the great Cataract and sees it 
by the light that fell from the mysterious and 
sacred centre of her own impenetrable soul. 
She says : * " The spectacle is, for once, great 
enough to fill the whole life, and supersede 
thought, giving us only its own presence. ' It 

* "At Home and Aboard ; or, Things and Thoughts in 
America and Europe." 

288 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

is good to be here ' is the best as it is the sim- 
plest expression that occurs to the mind," and 
adds further : " So great a sight soon satisfies, 
making us content with itself and with what is 
less than itself. Our desires once realized, 
haunt us again less readily. Having ' lived 
one day,' we would depart and become worthy 
to live another. My nerves, too much braced 
up by such an atmosphere, do not well bear 
the continual stress of sight and sound. For 
here there is no escape from the weight of per- 
pe\^ual\creation ; all other forms and motions 
come and go, the tide rises and recedes, the 
wind, at its mightiest, moves in gales and 
gusts, but there is really an incessant, an in- 
defatigable motion. Awake or asleep, there 
is no escape; still this rushing round you and 
through you. It is in this way I have most 
felt the grandeur — something eternal, if not 
infinite. 

" At times a secondary music arises ; the 
Cataract seems to seize its own rhythm and 
sing it over again so that the ear and soul are 
roused by a double vibration. This is some 
effect of the wind, causing echoes to the thun- 
dering anthem. It is very sublime, giving the 
19 289 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

effect of a spiritual repetition through all the 
spheres." 

Margaret Fuller speaks of Niagara as " the 
one object in the world that would not dis- 
appoint." 

She says of the Falls : " Daily their propor- 
tions widened and towered upon my sight, and 
I got, at last, a proper foreground for these 
sublime distances. Before coming away I 
think I really saw the full wonder of the scene. 
After a while it so drew me into itself as to 
inspire an undefined dread, such as I never 
knew before, such as may be felt when death 
is about to usher us into a new existence. The 
perpetual trampling of the waters seized my 
senses. I felt that no other sound, however 
near, could be heard, and would start and look 
behind me for a foe. I realized the identity of 
that mood of nature in which these waters 
were poured down with absorbing force, with 
that in which the Indian was shaped on the 
same soil." 

There is a touch of nature in Margaret Ful- 
ler's confession, " The Whirlpool I like very 
much." She was quite capable of making her 
friends teel that she could be as " sternly 
290 



FAMOVIS YI8IT0RS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

solemn," as impenetrable to the eye as the 
Whirlpool itself. The poetic side of her na- 
ture was satisfied with the beautiful forest on 
Goat Island and that wealth of wild flowers of 
which it was said by Sir Joseph Hooker, that 
more varieties were to be found on Goat Isl- 
and than anywhere else in America in the same 
expanse of wildwood. 

Harriet Martineau's impressions were de- 
rived from a point not described by either of 
the other women before named. It was on 
her second visit to Niagara that we have from 
her a description of her sensations in passing 
behind the American Fall. 

Miss Martineau says : " From the moment 
that I perceived that we were actually behind 
the Cataract and not in a mere cloud of spray, 
the enjoyment was intense. I not only saw 
the watery curtain before me like the tempest- 
driven snow, but by momentary glances could 
see the crystal roof of one of the most wonder- 
ful of Nature's palaces. The precise point at 
which the flood quitted the rock was marked 
by a gush of silvery light, which, of course, was 
brighter where the waters were shooting for- 
ward, than below where they fell perpendicu- 

2gi 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

larly." She then describes quite graphically 
her successful effort to reach Termination 
Rock. 

We turn now to another English mind, in- 
terested in an intense way in human welfare, 
interested as Miss Martineau was, but how 
different in the expression of that interest ! It 
is a strange contrast which it exhibits in pres- 
ence of the great flood. 

The mind that created Mr. Pickwick and 
David Copperfield will have something to say 
original even about Niagara. But Dickens 
was at heart a poet. His fiction was, perhaps, 
exaggeration of the facts, but the facts were 
forever fixed by it; and brought face to face 
with Nature in such aspects as make the 
mighty Cataract, we should expect to have 
called out from his soul that rehgious response 
which mystery and majesty never failed to 
evoke; and we are not disappointed. He 
says : " Whenever the train halted I listened 
for the roar, and was constantly straining my 
eyes in the direction where I knew the Falls 
must be, from seeing the river rolling on 
toward them; every moment expecting to be- 
hold the spray. Within a few minutes of our 
292 



FA310U8 VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

Stopping, not before, I saw two great white 
clouds rising up slowly and majestically from 
the depths of the earth. That was all. At 
length we alighted, and then for the first time 
I heard the mighty rush of water and felt the 
ground tremble under my feet." He chmbed 
down the steep and slippery bank, made un- 
secure to the foot by rain and half-melted ice, 
to face the Fall, but was not content with this 
view. A little ferryboat that then plied from 
one side to the other carried him and his party 
across the river below the Falls, while he was 
more and more astounded by the vastness of 
the scene. He says : " It was not until I came 
on Table Rock and looked, great Heaven ! on 
what a fall of bright green water — that it came 
upon me in its full majesty. Then I felt how 
near to my Creator I was standing; the first 
effect, and the enduring one, instant and last- 
ing, of the tremendous spectacle, was peace. 
Peace of mind, tranquillity, calm recollections 
of the dead, great thoughts of eternal rest and 
happiness ; nothing of gloom or terror. Niag- 
ara was at once stamped upon my heart, an 
image of beauty, to remain there, changeless 
and indelible, until its pulses cease to beat for- 
293 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ever. I never stirred in all that time from the 
•Canadian side whither I had gone at first. I 
never crossed the river again; for I knew there 
were people on the other shore, and in such a 
place it is natural to shun strange company.* 
To wander to and fro all day and see the cata- 
racts from all points of view; to stand upon 
the edge of the great Horse Shoe Fall, mark- 
ing the hurried water gathering strength as it 
approached the verge, yet seeming, too, to 
pause before it shot into the gulf below; to 
gaze from the river's level up at the torrent as 
it came streaming down; to climb the neigh- 
boring heights and watch it through the trees, 
and see the wreathing water in the rapids, 
hurrying on to take its fearful plunge; to lin- 
ger in the shadow of the solemn rocks three 
miles below, watching the river as, stirred by 
no visible cause, it heaved and eddied and 
awoke the echoes, being troubled yet far down 
beneath the surface, by its giant leap; to have 
Niagara before me, lighted by the sun and the 
moon, red in the day's decline, and gray as 

* The contrast in this particular between Dickens and N. 
P. Willis opens up an interesting chapter in the natural differ- 
ences in literary temperament as it deals with human life. 
294 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

evening slowly fell upon it; to look upon it 
every day, and wake up in the night and hear 
its ceaseless voice, this was enough. I think, 
in every quiet season now, still do those waters 
roll and leap and roar and tumble all day long; 
still are the rainbows spanning them a hun- 
dred feet below. Still when the sun is on 
them do they shine and glow like molten gold. 
Still when the day is gloomy do they fall like 
snow, or seem to crumble away like the front 
of a great chalk clifif, or roll down the rock 
like dense white smoke. But always does this 
mighty stream appear to die as it comes down, 
and always from its unfathomable grave arises 
that tremendous ghost of spray and mist, 
which is never laid; which has haunted this 
place with the same dread solemnity since 
darkness brooded on the deep, and that first 
flood before the deluge — light — came rushing 
on Creation at the word of God." 

Nothing could be more characteristic of 
that strange commingling of wonder and re- 
.serve in a human nature than the way in which 
Hawthorne came toward, and yet not quite to 
the Falls again and again. He says : " I had 
lingered away from it and wandered to other 
295 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

scenes. My treasury of anticipated enjoy- 
ments comprising all the wonders of the world 
had nothing else so magnificent; I was loath 
to exchange the pleasures of hope for those of 
memory so soon." There was nothing of the 
severe Yankee temperament in Hawthorne's 
attitude toward this great scene; it was rather 
that infusion of French self-indulgence which 
made him dread to count a delight, as a thing 
he had had. He says : " At length the day 
came, I walked toward Goat Island and 
crossed the bridge; above and below me were 
the rapids, a river of impetuous snow, with 
here and there a dark rock amid its whiteness, 
resisting all the physical fury as any cold spirit 
did the moral influences of the scene." 

We may go with Hawthorne along the path 
if we will. " On reaching Goat Island, which 
separates the two great segments of the Falls, 
I chose the right hand path and followed it to 
the edge of the American Cascade; there, 
while the falling sheet was yet invisible, I saw 
the vapor that never vanishes and the eternal 
rainbow of Niagara. I gained an insulated 
rock and observed a broad sheet of brilliant 
and unbroken foam, not shooting in a curved 
296 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAQABA FALLS. 

line from the top of the precipice, but falHng 
headlong down from height to depth." When 
Hawthorne had made the round of the island 
and had seen the Falls from every available 
coign of vantage, he stops, as was his custom, to 
take an account of his mental sensations. 
" Were my long desires fulfilled, and have I 
seen Niagara ? But would I had never heard 
of Niagara until I beheld it ! Blessed were the 
wanderers of old, who heard its deep roar 
sounding through the woods as a summons 
to its unknown wonder, and approached its 
awful brink in all the freshness of native feel- 
ing; had its own mysterious voice been the 
first to warn me of its existence, then, indeed, I 
might have fallen down and worshipped; but 
I had come haunted with a vision of foam and 
fury and dizzy cliffs, and an ocean tumbling 
down out of the sky — a scene, in short, which 
Nature had too much good taste and calm sim- 
plicity to realize. My mind had struggled to 
adapt these false aspects to the reality, and 
finding the effort vain, a wretched sense of dis- 
appointment weighed me down. I climbed 
the precipice and threw myself on the earth, 
feeling that I was unworthy to look at the 
297 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

great Falls and careless about observing them 
again." It would be strange, indeed, if the 
author of " Twice-Told Tales " did not find 
some " wonder " in this repetition to him in 
other terms of that which he had already im- 
agined. So he says of the night which suc- 
ceeded the first day visit : " As there has been, 
and may be for ages to come, a rushing sound 
was heard, as if a great tempest was sweeping 
through the air. It mingled in my dreams and 
made them full of storm and whirlwind. 
Whenever I awoke I heard this dread sound in 
the air, and the windows rattling as with a 
mighty blast. I could not rest again until, 
looking forth, I saw how bright the stars were 
and that every leaf in the garden was motion- 
less. Never was summer night more calm to the 
eye, nor a gale of autur/in louder to the ear. The 
rushing sound proceeds from the rapids and 
the rattling of the casements is but an effect of 
the vibration of the whole house shaken by the 
jar of the Cataract. The noise of the Rapids 
draws the attention from the true voice of 
Niagara, which is a dull, muffled thunder, re- 
sounding between the cliflfs. I spent a wake- 
ful hour at midnight in distinguishing between 
298 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

its reverberations, and rejoiced to find that my 
former awe and enthusiasm were reviving. 

" Gradually, and after much contemplation, 
I came to know by my own feelings that Niag- 
ara is indeed a wonder of the world, and not 
the less wonderful because time and thought 
must be employed in comprehending it." And 
here follows the sanest advice to those who 
have felt at first the sense of disappointment 
that the Cataract is not so great as they had 
conceived : " Casting aside all preconceived 
notions and preparation to be awe-struck or 
delighted, the beholder must stand beside it 
in the simplicity of his heart, suffering the 
mighty scene to work its own impression. 
Night after night I dreamed of it, and was 
gladdened every morning by the sensations of 
growing capacity to enjoy it." 

This description by Hawthorne, from which 
these brief quotations have been made, con- 
tains nothing truer to a fine nature than that 
in which he states his last impressions of the 
Falls : " I sat upon Table Rock ; never before 
had my mind been in such perfect unison with 
the scene. There were intervals when I was 
conscious of nothing but the great river roll- 
299 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

ing calmly into the abyss; rather descending 
than precipitating itself, and acquiring tenfold 
majesty from its hurried motion. It came like- 
the march of destiny; it was not taken by sur- 
prise, but seemed to have anticipated in all its 
course through the broad lakes that it must 
pour their collected waters down this height." 
The impression made by the water where it 
falls is noted by Hawthorne and by few be- 
sides — the stillness with which it slips away 
from the stroke of the Cataract, seeming 
scarcely to move in its eddies, which are only 
the slight surface of the great depth of waters 
in the narrow gorge into which it falls. He 
says of this : " When the observer has stood 
still and perceived no lull in the storm and 
stress, that the vapor and the foam are as ever- 
lasting as the rock which produces them, all 
this turmoil assumes a sort of calmness; it 
soothes while it awes the mind." 

Hawthorne is quite right in feeling that Ni- 
agara cannot be seen in " company " or wor- 
shipped by platoons; for one wants to steal to 
some unobserved retreat from which to look 
out and feel, as he says, " The enjoyment 
which becomes rapture, more rapturous be- 
300 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

cause no poet shared it, nor wretch devoid of 
poetry profaned it ; the spot so famous through 
the world was all mine." This same feeling 
was shared by Charles Kingsley. He says : 
" I long to simply look on in silence whole 
days at the exquisite beauty of form and 
color." 

To Dean Stanley the first sight of the Falls 
seemed " an epoch, like the first view of the 
pyramids, or the snow-clad range of the Alps." 
His first view of it was at midnight under a 
full moon. To him it seemed an " emblem of 
the devouring activity and ceaseless, restless, 
beating whirlpool of existence in the United 
States. But into the moonlight sky there 
rose a cloud of spray twice as high as the Falls 
themselves, silent, majestic, immovable. In 
that silver column, glittering in the moonlight, 
I saw an image of the future of American des- 
tiny, of the pillar of light which should emerge 
from the distractions of the present — a like- 
ness of the buoyancy and hopefulness which 
characterizes you, both as individuals and as a 
nation." 

Professor Tyndall's mind had not been 
robbed of its sentiment by the minute contem- 
301 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

plation of incident and detail, as Darwin suf- 
fered an atrophy in the appreciation of poetry, 
as he himself confesses. It is to Professor' 
Tyndall we owe this bit of poetic prose in 
which he describes the Whirlpool : " The scene 
presented itself as one of holy seclusion and 
beauty. I went down to the water's edge, 
where the weird loneliness and loveliness seem 
to increase. The basin is enclosed by high 
and almost precipitous banks, covered, when I 
was there, with russet woods. A kind of mys- 
tery attaches to gyrating water, due, perhaps, 
to the fact that we are to some extent ignorant 
of the direction of its force. It is said that at 
a certain point in the Whirlpool pine trees are 
sucked down to be ejected mysteriously else- 
where. The water is the brightest emerald 
green; the gorge through which it escapes is 
narrow and the motion of the river swift 
though silent; the surface is steeply inclined, 
but it is perfectly unbroken. There are no 
lateral waves, no ripples, with their breaking 
bubbles, to raise a murmur, while the depth is 
here too great to allow the inequality of the 
bed to ruffle the surface. Nothing can be 
more beautiful than this sloping, liquid mirror 
302 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

formed by the Niagara in sliding from the 
Whirlpool." 

If one wishes to know the measure of the 
mind of N. P. Willis, he may gain it from 
Willis's description of the Falls of Niagara. It 
does not suit our purpose to quote it here. It 
is the same mixture of poetry and common- 
place, of incident and contact with people, that 
made Mr. Willis the ideal magazine writer of 
that time. 

It is strange to note how different points 
seem to be the centre of focussed thought to 
different minds. To Mrs. Trollope it was the 
centre of the Horse Shoe, which seemed " the 
most utterly inconceivable." 

" The famous torrent converges there, as 
the heavy mass pours in, twisted, rolled, and 
curled together; it gives the idea of irresistible 
power such as no other object every conveyed 
to me. The mighty caldron into which the 
deluge pours, the hundred silvery torrents 
congregated around its verge, the smooth and 
solemn movement with which it rolls its mas- 
sive volume over the rock, the liquid emerald 
of its long unbroken waters, the fantastic 
wreaths which spring to meet it, and then the 
303 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

shadowy mist that veils the horrors of the 
crash below, constitute a scene almost too 
enormous in its features for man to look 
upon." 

To Charles Dudley Warner it is at a differ- 
ent point the mind pauses and feels its most 
impressive moment. " Nowhere is the river 
so terrible as where it rushes, as if maddened 
by its narrow bondage, through the caiion, 
flowing down the precipice and forced into this 
contracting space, it fumes and tosses and 
raves with a vindictive fury, driving on in a 
passion that has almost a human quality in it; 
and restrained by the walls of stone from being 
destructive, it seems to rave at its own im- 
potence, and when it reaches the Whirlpool it 
is like a hungry animal, returning and licking 
the shore for the prey it has missed." 

Prof. Richard Proctor is im.pressed by the 
terrible force of the Niagara at the same spot. 
Speaking of the fatal attempt of Captain Webb 
to swim the Whirlpool Rapids he says: " He 
maybe did not know what a rough estimate of 
the energies at work in Niagara should have 
shown, that amid that mass of water which de- 
scends from the basin below the Falls to the 
304 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

engulfing vortex of the Whirlpool, the body 
of the biggest and strongest living creature 
must be as powerless as a drop of water in mid- 
Atlantic." 

When Anthony Trollope a:ssures us in his 
discussions upon novel-writing that all that a 
novelist needs is a table and chair with a bit of 
shoemaker's wax upon the seat of it, we sus- 
pect that he is only excusing his own volumin- 
ous production. But he does not lack poetic, 
inspiration, as the following quotations will 
show : " But we will go on at once to the glory 
and thunder and the majesty, and the wrath of 
that upper hell of waters. We are still on 
Goat Island. Advancing beyond the path -lead- 
ing down to the lower Fall, we come to that 
point of the island at which the waters of the 
main river begin to descend. Go down to the 
end of the wooden bridge, seat yourself on the 
rail, and then sit till all the outer world is lost 
to you. There is no grander spot about Niag- 
ara than this. The waters are absolutely 
around you. Here, seated on the rail of the 
bridge, you will not see the whole depth of the 
Fall. In looking at the grandest works of Na- 
ture and of art, too, I fancy it is never well to 
20 305 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

see all. There should be something left to the 
imagination and much should be half con- 
cealed in mystery. The greatest charm of a 
mountain range is that wild feeling, there must 
be something strange, unknown, desolate in 
those far-off valleys beyond. And so here, at 
Niagara, that converging rush of waters may 
fall down, down at once into a hell of rivers, 
for what the eye can see. It is glorious to 
watch them in their first curve over the rocks. 
They come green as a bank of emeralds; but 
with a fitful flying color, as though conscious 
that in one moment more they would be 
dashed into spray and rise into air pale as 
driven snow. The vapor rises high into the 
air and is gathered there, visible always as a 
permanent white cloud over the cataract; but 
the bulk of the spray which fills the lower hol- 
low of that horseshoe is like a tumult of snow. 
" This you will not fully see from your seat 
on the rail. The head of it rises ever and anon 
out of that caldron below, but the caldron itself 
will be invisible. It is ever so far down, far as 
your own imagination can sink it. But your 
eyes will rest full upon the curve of the waters. 
The shape you will be looking at is that of a 
306 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

horseshoe, but of a horseshoe miraculously 
deep from toe to heel; and this depth becomes 
greater as you sit there. That which at first 
was only great and beautiful, becomes gigantic 
and sublime till the mind is at a loss to find 
an epithet for its own use. To realize Niagara 
you must sit there 'till you see nothing else 
than that which you have come to see. You 
will hear nothing else and think of nothing 
else. At length you will be at one with the 
tumbling river before you. You will find 
yourself among the waters as though you be- 
longed to them. The cool liquid green will 
run through your veins, and the voice of the 
Cataract will be the expression of your heart. 
You will fall, as the bright waters fall, rushing 
down into your new world with no hesitation 
and with no dismay; and you will rise again as 
the spray rises, bright, beautiful,. and pure. 

" One of the great charms of Niagara con- 
sists in this — that over and above that one 
great object of wonder and beauty, there is so 
much little loveliness; loveliness especially of 
water, I mean. There are little rivulets run- 
ning here and there over little falls, with pen- 
dant boughs above them, and stones shining 
307 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

under their shallow depths. As the visitor 
stands and looks through the trees, the Rapids 
glitter before him, and then hide themselves 
behind islands. They glitter and sparkle in far 
distances under the bright foliage till the re- 
membrance is lost and one knows not which 
way they run. 

" Of all the sights in this earth of ours which 
tourists travel to see — at least of all those 
which I have seen — I am inclined to give the 
palm to Niagara. I know no other one thing 
so beautiful, so glorious, so powerful." 

When we know that Bayard Taylor visited 
the Falls of Niagara we instantly desire to 
know what impression was made upon a mind 
which had contemplated such a wide range 
and variety as this great traveller had seen and 
had elsewhere described. He thus brings his 
poetic imagination to the contemplation: 
" The picturesque shores of the river, the 
splendid green of the water, and the lofty line 
of the upper plateau in front, crowned with 
Brock's Monument, and divided by the dark 
yawning gorge of Niagara, form a fitting ves- 
tibule to the grand adytum beyond. The 

chasm grows wider, deeper, and more precipi- 

308 



FAMOUii VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

tous with every mile, until, having seen the 
Suspension Bridge apparently floating in mid- 
air on your right, you look ahead, and two 
miles off you catch a glimpse of the emerald 
crest of Niagara, standing fast and fixed above 
its shifting chaos of snowy spray. 

" I have seen the Falls in all weathers and at 
all seasons, but to my mind the winter view 
is most beautiful. I saw them first in the hard 
winter of 1854, when a hundred cataracts of 
ice hung from the cliffs on either side, when 
the masses of ice brought down from Lake 
Erie were wedged together at the foot, uniting 
the shores with a rugged bridge, and when 
every twig and every tree and bush in Goat 
Island was overlaid an inch deep with a coat- 
ing of solid crystal. The air was still and the 
sun shone in a cloudless sky. The green of 
the Fall, set in a landscape of sparkling silver, 
was infinitely more brilliant than in the sum- 
mer, when it is balanced by the trees, and the 
rainbows were almost too glorious for the eye 
to bear. I was not impressed by the sub- 
limity of the scene nor even by its terror, but 
solely by the fascination of its wonderful 
beauty, a fascination which constantly tempted 
309 



TEE NIAGABA BOOK. 

me to plunge into that sea of fused emerald 
and lose myself in the dance of the rainbows. 
With each succeeding visit Niagara has grown 
in height, in power, in majesty, in solemnity; 
but I have seen its climax of beauty." 

Reference has been made in this writing to 
the remarkable fact that the greater American 
poets have not attempted to describe Niagara. 
The fact is easily discernible in their writings; 
but the cause of this apparent neglect of a 
theme which has tempted so many feebler 
singers must be sought in the laws of the hu- 
man mind as affected by the contact of that 
which transcends all rhythmic expression. It 
would seem that the greater the gift of expres- 
sion for the less overpowering appeal of Na- 
ture to the soul, the more impotent in this 
presence the poets have felt. There are not 
wanting, indeed, poems about Niagara — there 
is one which flows like the river itself, un- 
dammed for forty thousand lines; and in some 
of these individual lines there are perhaps sev- 
eral lines together which seem to catch the 
swing of the great Cataract ; though at best 
they are a shrill piping to its mighty diapason; 
they are like the song of the wren on its banks. 
310 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

Even Mrs. Sigourney's lines are felt by her to 
be inadequate : 

Ah, who can dare 
To lift the insect-trump of earthly hope, 
Or love, or sorrow, 'mid the peal sublime 
Of thy tremendous hymn ? Even Ocean shrinks 
Back from thy brotherhood and all his waves 
Retire abashed. For he doth sometimes seem 
To sleep like a spent laborer and recall 
His wearied billows from their vexing play. 
And lull them to a cradle calm ; but thou 
With everlasting, undecaying tide, 
Dost rest not, night or day.'' 

"Thou dost make the soul 
A wondering witness of thy majesty. 
And as it presses with delirious joy 
To pierce thy vestibule, dost chain its step, ' 
And tame its rapture with a humbling view 
Of its own nothingness, bidding it stand 
In the dread presence of the Invisible, 
As if to answer to its God through thee." 

These are perhaps the best of the lines 
written by Mrs. Sigourney; but their inade- 
quacy is felt by any one who compares them 
with a moment's recollection of his own feel- 
ings in the presence they attempt to describe. 
3" 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

The lines of Lord Morpeth are well known ; 
they seem most memorable for the sincere ex- 
pression of that good will which he hoped 
might ever subsist between the nations, his 
own and America : 

" Oh! may thy waves which madden in thy deep 
There spend their rage nor climb the encircUng 

steep ; 
And till the conflict of thy surges cease 
The nations on thy banks repose in peace." 

There seems to be a widespread conviction 
that the oft-quoted lines of John G. C. Brain- 
ard are " the noblest lines inspired by the great 
Cataract." They are notable as rising in the 
mind of a New England editor who had never 
seen the Falls, and are said to have been the 
work of a few moments — an improvisation : 

" The thoughts are strange that crowd into my brain 
While I look upward to thee. It would seem 
As if God poured thee from ' His hollow hand ' 
And hung his bow upon thine awful front, 
And spoke in that loud voice which seemed to him 
Who dwelt in Patmos for his Savior's sake 
' The sound of many waters ' and had bade 
Thy flood to chronicle the ages back, 
And notch his cent'ries in the eternal rock. 
312 



FAMOUS VISITORS AT NIAGARA FALLS. 

" Deep calleth unto deep. And what are we 
That hear the question of that voice sublime ? 
Oh ! What are all the notes that ever rung 
From war's vain trumpet by thy thundering side ! 
Yea, what is all the riot man can make 
In his short life to thy unceasing roar ! 
And yet bold babbler, what art thou to Him 
Who drowned a world and heaped the waters far 
Above its loftiest mountains ? — a light wave 
That breaks and whispers of its Maker's might." 

There are many other expressions of those 
who from all parts of the world have matched 
the feebleness of speech against the stress of 
feeling; but we forbear to quote further. The 
extracts given above will prove sufficient for 
their purpose if they constitute a pleasure to 
the receptive mind, susceptible to the influ- 
ences of the scene they visit, and if they prove 
a gentle warning to the too eager expression 
of words which so often hide rather than reveal 
thought. 



313 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

PART III. 

BUFFALO AND THE PAN-AMERICAN 
EXPOSITION. 




PLAN OF THE CITY OF BUFFALO. 



PART III. 

A FEW PAGES ABOUT 
BUFFALO. 

All visitors to Niagara Falls during the summer of 
1901 will wish also to see something of Buffalo, and of 
the Pan-American Exposition. The following pages 
give some brief general information, and mention a 
few of the things in Buffalo which a visitor will find 
most interesting, in different lines. 

For One Day in Buffalo. 

In the morning see the manuscripts in the Buffalo 
Library, back of the Soldiers' Monument, on Main 
Street, opposite Court Street ; then down Main Street 
two blocks to the Erie County Savings Bank building ; 
up Niagara Street one block to the D. S. Morgan build- 
ing, for the view from the roof ; along Niagara Street 
one block to Franklin Street, then one block to the 
left to the City Hall (exterior only), and to the left again 
along Church Street past the Prudential building to St. 
Paul's Cathedral, seeing the interior (Erie Street en- 
trance always open). Down Main Street again, a few 
steps, to the great Ellicott Square building, with its 
central court. One block back of the Ellicott Square 
building is the new post office, the tower of which may 
317 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

be well seen from the further Ellicott Square entrance. 
Then take car to the foot of Main Street, and take a 
small boat "up the creek and back" to see the com-_ 
merce of Buffalo. Stop somewhere, if possible, and go 
on board a vessel unloading grain. 

In the afternoon drive "to the Front and around the 
Park." When approaching the Park tell the driver you 
wish to see the Crematory and the Red Jacket Monu- 
ment. Or take one of the wagonette or automobile 
lines and ride up Delaware Avenue from Niagara 
Square to the Exposition Grounds. 

The City of Buffalo. 

The city of Buffalo has, by the census of 1900, a pop- 
ulation of 352,387, standing eighth among the cities of 
the United States. It leads the world in its commerce 
in flour, wheat, coal, fresh fish, and sheep, and stands 
second only to Chicago in lumber. In cattle and in 
hogs, only Chicago and Kansas City exceed it. It is a 
centre for lithographing and railroad printing, and also 
for beer breweries, lard refining, meat packing, soap 
and starch. Its railroad yard facilities are the greatest 
in the world, and are being increased rapidly. The 
new steel plant at Stony Point has a capital of over 
twenty million dollars, and has already expended 
$1,500,000 for its land. In marine commerce, although 
the season is limited to six months, Buffalo is exceeded 
in tonnage only by London, Liverpool, Hamburg, New 
York, and Chicago. 

Better still, it is a city of homes. Strangers view 
with delight its shaded streets and spacious lawns, 
alike in the most and least fashionable quarters of the 
318 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

city. Block houses are few and far between, and 
through wise preventive measures the more serious 
tenement-house evils have never been allowed to de- 
velop. The climate in summer is delightful, and it 
is one of the healthiest cities in the country, with a 
limitless supply of pure water. It has one of the first 
free municipal bath houses in existence ; the Paris 
Exposition of 1900 has pronounced its creche the 
best managed in the world, and its new Albright Art 
Gallery will be unrivalled for its purposes. It has more 
miles of asphalt pavement than any other city, and is a 
paradise for bicyclers, who may be seen on its streets 
almost every day in the year. Socially it combines the 
cordiality of the West with the conservatism of the East, 
and in few large cities does money play so slight a part 
in social demarcations. Coal and food supplies are so 
low in price that it is one of the cheapest of the large 
cities in which to live. Although the city and surround- 
ing country are very flat, with little of the picturesque, 
it has a beautiful series of parks in which to drive, the 
shores of Lake Erie and of the Niagara River are ac- 
cessible after leaving the immediate suburbs, and 
Niagara Falls is but twenty miles away. 

A general view of the topography of the city and 
harbor may be had from the roof of the D. S. Morgan 
Building, Niagara and Pearl streets, or from the roof 
of the Lenox, on North Street, near Delaware. 

Buffalo River and Harbor. 

The visitor should on no account fail to see some- 
thing of the commerce of Buffalo, its elevators and coal 
trestles, and he will be amazed at the muddy little stream 

319 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

the commerce of which, though restricted to the six 
months of the navigation season, is exceeded, as stated 
above, in this country only by New York and Chicago, 
and abroad only by London, Liverpool, and Hamburg," 
The season's commerce of Buffalo in flour, grain and 
coal alone equals ten per cent, of the yearly foreign 
trade of the entire United States. 

Buffalo has thirty-two elevators in addition to floating 
or transfer elevators. It is exceedingly interesting to 
watch the steam shovels unloading a cargo of grain, 
and their rapidity is marvellous, sometimes reaching 
25,000 bushels per hour. A steamer has entered port 
at 9.20 A.M., discharged 77,000 bushels of wheat taken 
on 2,300 tons of coal, and been ready to sail at 7 P.M. 

The coal trestles on the Buffalo River and Harbor 
are the largest in the world, one of the Lackawanna 
Railroad exceeding a mile in length. 

The shipping facilities of Buffalo may be seen most 
easily by taking one of the small boats at the foot of 
Main Street, and going " up the creek " and back. 

Erie Canal. 

This canal, said to be the largest in existence except- 
ing one in China, extends 348 miles, from Buffalo to 
Albany, and was completed in 1825, at an original cost 
of $9,000,000, being put through, with great ridicule 
and opposition, by Governor De Witt Clinton, and being 
nicknamed "Clinton's Big Ditch." It quickly paid for 
itself in tolls, and at once reduced the cost of getting 
a barrel of flour from Buffalo to Albany, from ten 
dollars in three weeks' time, to thirty cents and one 
week's time. Before the completion of the New York 
320 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

Central Railroad it carried thousands of passengers and 
emigrants ; it now carries freight only. It has fifteen 
single locks and fifty-seven double, the working of 
which may be seen most effectively at Lockport, twenty- 
five miles from Buffalo. 

The canal may be seen most pleasantly in a drive to 
the Front; most easily upon Main Street, a block below 
the New York Central Railroad station; and most effec- 
tively by going a short distance down Erie Street, as 
far as the Grand Trunk station, or by taking a Belt 
line train between the Exposition Grounds and the 
main New York Central station. 

Architectural Features. 

Among public buildings those best worth seeing arch- 
itecturally are the new Post Office, Washington and 
Swan Streets ; the City Hall, Delaware Avenue and 
Eagle ; the 74th Regiment Armory (Lansing), Niagara 
and Prospect Streets, and the Buffalo State Insane 
Asylum (Richardson), immediately southwest of the 
Exposition Grounds. 

In banks, office buildings, etc., the Buffalo Savings 
Bank (Green & Wicks), at the corner of Main and 
Genesee Streets ; the small Bank of Commerce (Green 
& Wicks), Main Street, below Seneca ; the great 
Ellicott Square Building (Burnham), said to be the 
largest office building in the world, with 600 offices, 40 
stores and 16 counting rooms ; the Erie County Savings 
Bank Building (Post), Main and Erie Streets, and the 
Prudential Building (Adler & Sullivan, Chicago), Pearl 
and Church Streets, the most handsomely finished 
office building in Buffalo. The Medical School of the 
21 321 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

University of Buffalo (George Carj'), on High Street, 
a little to the east of Main Street, is a handsome and a 
well-equipped building. The Buffalo General Hospital 
is a short distance farther down the same street. 

Among private residences may be mentioned the four 
houses by McKim, Mead & White, three at the north- 
west and one at the southwest corner of Delaware and 
North Streets ; the house of Truman G. Avery (New- 
comb, Boston), on the Circle ; the house and stable of 
William Hamlin (Marling & Burdett, Buffalo), 1058 
Delaware Avenue, and that of George V. Forman 
(Green & Wicks), Delaware Avenue. Richardson has 
two houses in Buffalo — of W. H. Gratwick, 7/6 Dela- 
ware Avenue, and George Bleistein, 438 Delaware 
Avenue. 

Churches, the Crematory, the Red Jacket Monument, 

etc., are mentioned under separate headings. A drive 

up Delaware Avenue from the Terrace to Ferry Street, 

with a digression down North Street and around the 

Circle, will show the best of the private architecture of 

Buffalo. 

Churches. 

Buffalo has some 200 churches. Those noted below 
as most desirable for a visitor to see are selected mainly 
for architectural reasons. 

S^. Paul's Cathedral. — The cathedral church of the 
Episcopal diocese of western New York. It was built 
in 1850, of brown sandstone, and its beautiful spire rises 
to a height of 268 feet. It stands in the heart of the 
business district, at the corner of Main and Erie Streets. 
The interior is well worth seeing, and the side entrance, 
on Erie Street, is always open. 
322 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

Temple Beth Zion. — On Delaware Avenue, between 
North and Allen Streets, and adjacent to the Twentieth 
Century Club. Built in 1890, the architects being- 
Edward A. and William W. Kent, of Buffalo. It is of 
Medina brown sandstone, of Byzantine architecture with 
Romanesque features. The interior decoration of the 
great dome is unusual and very effective. Of especial 
interest is a tablet from the St. Paul's Episcopal congre- 
gation, in commemoration of their use in 1888 of the for- 
mer Beth Zion Synagogue, at a time when the Episco- 
pal cathedral could not be used, through an explosion of 
natural gas. Another similar tablet is from the Delaware 
Avenue Baptist Society. Services are held in the Syn- 
agogue on Saturdays at 10 A.M. and on Fridays at 7.30 
P.M., to which the public are welcome. 

First Presbyterian Church. — On "The Circle," where 
North Street changes to Porter Avenue. Built in 1890, 
of Medina sandstone, the architects being Green & 
Wicks, of Buffalo. The high campanile is a landmark 
from long distances. The interior also is well worth 
seeing. 

St. Louis' Catholic Church (French and German). — 
At the corner of Main and Edward Streets. Its spire is 
especially worthy attention. 

St. Joseph's Cathedral. — Far down town, at the 
corner of Franklin and Swan Streets. It has a carillon 
of forty-three bells, but a small portion of which are in 
use. 

Delaware Avenue Baptist Church. — On Delaware 
Avenue, between Bryant and Utica Streets. Erected in 
1894 at a cost of some $200,000. The interior is mag- 
nificent. 

323 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

St. Andrew's Episcopal Chterch. — Far over on the 
East Side, on Goodell Street, near Michigan. Notable 
for the extreme simplicity, severity and inexpensiveness 
of its construction, and for its very high church services. 

Buffalo Library. 

Centrally located, adjoining the little parli in which 
stands the Soldiers' Monument, on Main Street, between 
Lafayette and Clinton. The library was started in 1836, 
the present building being erected in 1887. It was taken 
by the city as a free public library in 1897, and is notable 
for the enormous popular use which has developed 
since that date. Its cards are held by 65,703 citizens 
of Buffalo, and the number of books circulated in 1900 
was 981,235. Although this total is exceeded by several 
libraries in this country, it is stated that in no other 
single building in the world is there so large a number of 
books given out per annum. A feature of the library 
is the open shelf room, in which over 19,000 carefully 
selected volumes are thrown open to full access and 
withdrawal by the public. The children's room, on the 
second floor, is always interesting, but has no especially 
distinctive features. 

On the main floor of the library is a remarkably fine 
collection of original manuscripts, by far the largest 
and most valuable in this country, excellently arranged 
under glass for inspection by visitors. They range in 
date from Melanchthon and Bacon to Emerson's Repre- 
sentative Men (entire) and Mark Twain's Huckleberry 
Finn. One letter is from George Ticknor, introducing 
at length Charles Sumner to the poet Southey. Another 
is from John Bright to Theodore Tilton. Other names, 

324 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

selected almost at random, are Miss Alcott, Aldrich, Bal- 
zac, Beaconsfield, Beranger, Blake, Charlotte Bronte ; 
interesting unpublished letters from Robert Browning 
and Mrs. Browning, Bryant, Burke, Burns, Aaron Burr, 
Carlyle, Clay, Cleveland, Coleridge, Cooper, Cowper, 
Jefferson Davis, Dickens, Dryden, Dumas, George Eliot, 
Benjamin Franklin, Gladstone, Grant, Thomas Gray, 
Greeley, Bret Harte, Hawthorne, Heine, Hogg, Holmes, 
Hood, Howells, Hugo, Washington Irving, Sam John- 
son, Keats, Lamartine, Lamb, Lincoln, Longfellow, 
Lowell, Lytton, Cardinal Newman, Macaulay, Poe, 
Pope, Reade, Richter, Rossetti, Rousseau, Ruskin, 
Scott, Shelley, Southey, Tennyson, Thoreau, Trollope, 
Voltaire, Washington, Webster, Whitman, Whittier, 
Wordsworth, etc. They are in no case autographs 
only, though some are of but a few lines. 

The library is open on Sundays from ii a.m. tog 

P.M. 

In the same'building are the ACADEMY OF Natural 
Science, the Buffalo Historical Society, which 
after 1901 will occupy the marble New York State 
building of the Pan-American Exposition, and the 
Academy of Fine Arts. All are free to the public. 
The Fine Arts Academy has some excellent pictures, 
a notable collection of etchings and, a good collection 
of casts. After 1901 it will be housed in the magnifi- 
cent Albright Art Gallery. 

Grosvenor Library. 

A pleasant and quiet reference library of some 50,000 
volumes, at the corner of Franklin and Edward Streets. 
Not open evenings. 

325 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Mr. R. B. Adam has a noteworthy private library per- 
taining to Johnson and Burns, and in lesser degree to 
Ruskin, which he is usually very glad to show to those 
especially interested. 

Washington Market. 

Those unfamiliar with city market stalls of this nature 
will find this quite unique. It is on Chippewa Street, 
but a block to the east of Main, and is open on Tues- 
days, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the latter being the 
better day to choose. The little stalls, the carts, the 
bustling market women, all have a curiously foreign 
appearance. The Elk Street Market, at Elk, Perry, and 
Market Streets, is still larger, but less accessible. 

Wading Pond, Humboldt Park. 

This is a shallow pool of water 550 feet in diameter, 
with stone coping and sandy bottom, sloping gradually 
to a depth of only three feet at the centre. On pleasant 
afternoons or holidays, it is filled with wading children, 
some pushing baby carriages, and is a most picturesque 
and interesting sight. Its distances, great in them- 
selves, seem still more enormous to children, and they 
get great pleasure from it, and from the general excite- 
ment of the place. The park has other attractive fea- 
tures, in fountains, aquatic plants, etc. It is about two 
miles from the centre of the city, and may be reached 
by the Genesee Street and Best Street cars. 

Forest Lawn Cemetery. 

An attractive spot, covering 267 acres of forest, lawn, 
and stream. It is immediately adjacent to the Park 
326 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

Meadow and to the Pan-American Exposition grounds. 
The visitor should see, and can hardly fail to see, the 
statue of Red Jacket, erected by the Buffalo Historical 
Society to the memory ot the last chief of the once pow- 
erful Seneca tribe. The monument should properly 
have been placed in the heart of the busy city, which 
would have given greatly added force, to the inscription 
on the base, the words of Red Jacket himself : 

" When I am gone, and my warnings are no longer heeded, 
the craft and avarice of the white man will prevail. My heart 
fails me when I think of my people so soon to be scattered 
and forgotten." 

Near-by is the Blocher Monument, which Baedeker de- 
scribes as "a piece of crude realism having strong 
local admirers." It shows, under a glass canopy, a 
young man upon his deathbed, with the father and 
mother, in life size, on either side, and an angel hover- 
ing above. The monument to Francis W. Tracy, by 
Augustus St. Gaudens, is very simple, and is not apt to 
be found by the visitor unless by special inquiry. 

Crematory. 

This beautiful little building, of brown sandstone cov- 
ered with English ivy, is on Forest Avenue, opposite 
the Forest Lawn Cemetery, and not far from the Pan- 
American grounds. It was built in 1885, the first cre- 
mation taking place that year. Its use is now suffi- 
ciently common to excite little or no comment. It 
contains a chapel for funeral services. Visitors are not 
allowed to see the process of incineration, but the 
method used is clearly explained and shown. 
327 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 



Clubs. 



The chief social clubs of the city are as follows : 

Buffalo Club. — This is the representative club of the" 
city, having over 400 members. It has a handsome 
club-house, at the corner of Delaware Avenue and 
Trinity Place, which is especially noticeable for its beau- 
tiful natatorium and billiard room. 

Saturn Club. — A smaller and more exclusive club, at 
the corner of Delaware Avenue and Edward Street. 
The club is chiefly noted for its " no treating " rule, 
and for the unique and original nature of many of its 
entertainments and accessories. At one end of the 
large lounging hall is the motto, in wrought iron letters, 
from Izaak Walton's "Complete Angler," " Good Com- 
pany and Good Discourse are the very Sinews of Vir- 
tue," while at the other end of the hall, over the win- 
dows, in much smaller letters, is written, " Here the 
women cease from troubling and the wicked are at rest." 
The chief points of interest in the building are the large 
hall, running up through the two stories, with leaded 
glass windows opening into the library and corridors 
above, the handsome and well-equipped library on 
the Delaware Avenue front, the cafd, with its unique 
inscriptions, and the St. Patrick's Room in the base- 
ment. 

University Club. — A pleasant club mainly of the 
younger college men, started in 1894, and at present 
occupying a former residence of the Hon. Wilson S. 
Bissell, 295 Delaware Avenue, between Chippewa and 
Tupper Streets. 

Twentieth Century Club. — A woman's club, with a 
328 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

very beautiful club house on Delaware Avenue, below 
North Street. The club house is rarely open evenings, 
but is much used through the day. It has a good li- 
brary and reading room, music room, main court, and 
a concert hall which is often rented for entertainments. 
Its decorations and furnishings are artistic and quite 
unique. 

Country Club. — Of the usual nature, purposes and 
membership of country clubs. The club was incor- 
porated in 1889, and occupied the house which is now 
the headquarters of the Board of Women Managers, at 
the Pan-American Exposition. They had good stables, 
some twenty acres of land, and the use of the park 
lands adjoining for polo and for golf. The site selected 
for the Pan-American included all the ground rented 
by the Country Club, and it was obliged to take tem- 
porary quarters on Amherst Street, farther to the east. 
The club has an excellent membership, and its horse 
shows and contests are largely attended. 

Ellicott Club. — This is a men's lunching club, organ- 
ized in 1895, with large and very handsome rooms on 
the tenth floor of the Ellicott Square Building. Its main 
dining hall is much in use for large dinners, dances, 
etc. Separate rooms are provided for women, or for 
members accompanied by women. The club has been 
very successful. 

Admission to all these club houses is, of course, 
possible only through a card from one of their mem- 
bers. 

Fresh Air Mission. 

The Fresh Air Mission Hospital, for sick babies, is a 
most attractive building, admirably located on the beach 
329 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

of Lake Erie, at Athol Springs, ten miles from Buffalo, 
and may be reached either by the Pennsylvania or the 
Lake Shore Railroad. The return trip may easily be 
made in a morning or afternoon. The hospital is within 
easy walking distance from the station. 

The Fresh Air Mission proper, at Cradle Beach, 
is thirteen miles farther out on the same railroads, the 
nearest station being Angola, from which there is a 
drive of two miles. This also is admirably situated, and 
has attractive buildings excellently adapted for their 
purposes. 

The little Cradle Banks, which are conspicuous every 
summer throughout Buffalo, take in upwards of $i,ooo 
every year, (last summer it was over $3,000) in small 
sums. It is hoped that this summer their receipts may 
be greatly increased. The society has no endowed 
fund. 

Fire Tugs. 

Those cojning from inland cities will be interested in 
Buffalo's fire-tugs, a valuable safeguard for the city's 
extensive river and harbor property. 

Presidents Cleveland and Fillmore. 

There have been two Buffalo presidents. Those in- 
terested may see the old law office of President Cleveland 
in the Weed Block, at the corner of Main and Swan 
Streets ; while the home of President Fillmore is now a 
large boarding-house, or almost hotel, "The Fillmore 
House," on Niagara Square, at the corner cf Delaware 
Avenue and Genesee Street. The house has been con- 
siderably added to. 

330 







Copyright, 1901, bp tlte^rdtthewSrNarthrup Co., Buffalo, N. V. 



NIAGARA FALLS AND VICINITY. 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Hotels and Boarding Houses. 

The Hotel Iroquois is one of the best hotels in the 
United States, and its cafe is not approached in cuisins. 
by any other hotel or restaurant in Buffalo. Its billiard 
rooms and bar are costly and magnificent. It is, 
however, in the business portion of the town. The 
Lenox is a large apartment house and hotel of the finest 
type, and in the most fashionable residence portion of 
the city, being on North Street, just west of Delaware 
Avenue. The view from the roof is well worth seeing. 
The Niagara Hotel is delightfully located at the Front, 
opposite Prospect Park. If the management in 1901 is 
as good as it promises to be, it will be a delightful 
place at which to stay. The Genesee, New Tifft, Broe- 
zel and Mansion House are all good hotels. Statler''s 
Hotel and the Park Hotel are new and temporary struc- 
tures, adjacent to the Pan-American grounds. The 
Statler Hotel, has the better location, but is much 
larger, having accommodations for 5,000 people. It is 
of two stories only. A large number of apartment 
houses and some business blocks have been turned into 
hotels for the Pan-American year. 

There are many good boarding houses in Buffalo. 
Pan-American visitors desiring accommodations in 
them, or in good private houses, would best write to 
the Bureau of Information of the Pan-American Exposi- 
tion, which will furnish them full and prompt informa- 
tion, with prices. 

Theatres. 

The only thoroughly first-class theatre in Buffalo at 
present is the Star. The Teck Theatre has a stock com- 
332 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

pany, and usually presents melodramas of the better 
grade. It is an excellent and very comfortable theatre, 
with low prices. Shea's Theatre is a large variety hall, 
of the best of its kind, with clean shows and very large 
audiences. The Lyceum Theatre is a good low-priced 
theatre. The Court Street is a low-priced house, with 
entertainments mainly of the variety order, and adapted 
mainly for male audiences. 

Newspapers. 

The " Buffalo Morning Express " (one cent) and the 
" Buffalo Commercial" — an afternoon paper, and the 
only two-cent daily paper now published in Buffalo — 
are the daily papers of highest grade. The evening 
" News " (one cent) is an excellent paper, as are also 
the evening " Times" and " Enquirer," and the morning 
"Courier" and " Review." There are three good daily 
papers in German, and one in Polish. The Sunday edi- 
tions are all five cents. 

Information for Shopping. 

Flint & Kent, 554 Main Street, carry the highest grade 
of stock in general dry goods, and next to them come 
the Adam, Meldrum & Anderson Company, 404 Main 
Street, a much larger general department store. J. N. 
Adam & Company, directly opposite, at 389 Main Street, 
and the William Hengerer Company, at 256 Main 
Street, are other very large department stores, of the 
highest standing, and with a somewhat cheaper gen- 
eral line of goods. T. E. Dickinson & Co., 254 Main 
Street, stand easily first in jewelry, silver, etc. T. 
C. Tanke, and King & Eisele, are other good stores in 
333 



TEE NIAGARA BOOK. 

this line. In crockery and ^/ajj, Walbridge & Co., 392 
Main Street, have the largest and best assortment, 
though Irwin R. Brayton, 692 Main Street, has a better 
stock in the choicest grades. For men's furnishings 
of high grade, the best stores are : W. C. Humburch, 
329 Main Street ; Kinne & Kinne Company, 357 Main 
Street, and Flint & Kent, 554 Main Street. Among the 
better book stores are : Peter Paul & Co., 448 Main 
Street ; Otto Ulbrich, 386 Main Street ; H. H. Otis & 
Sons, 284 Main Street, and the larger dry-goods stores. 
For flowers may be mentioned : Palmer, Rebstock, 
Zimmerman, Scott, Anderson, etc. For carriages, C. 
W. Miller is so very much the largest establishment 
that he alone can be mentioned here, though some of 
the smaller concerns are equally good ; aut07nobiles 
may be obtained at low rates from the Woods Motor 
Vehicle Company; the "Automobile Station, No. i," 
and, from J. L. Langdon (Locomobiles). Practically 
the only baggage delivery is that of C. W. Miller, 8 
East Eagle Street. On presentation of railroad tickets 
he will check baggage direct from the house to destina- 
tion, and for a slight extra charge will include delivery 
at house at destination. The best candy stores are 
Huyler's, Gager's, and Faxon, Williams & Faxon. 

Almost all the retail stores of importance are on Main 
Streex, between Seneca and Tupper. There are, of 
course, many good stores in Buffalo in addition to the 
few which we have mentioned here. 

Doctors. 

The surgeons and physicians in these lists are all of 
high professional standing and reputation, and except 
334 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

in the list of dentists only those are included who are 
on the staff of some one of the leading hospitals. There 
are many other excelent doctors in Buffalo, but it seems 
well for the purpose of this book, to make this distinction. 
Those whose names are printed in italics are homeop- 
athists. 

General Physicians. — Henry R. Hopkins, 444 Frank- 
lin Street ; C. C. Wyckoff, 482 Delaware Avenue ; 
Charles Cary, 340 Delaware Avenue ; Charles G. Stock- 
ton, 436 Franklin Street; John Parmenter, 519 Frank- 
lin Street ; DeLancey Rochester, 469 Franklin Street ; 
John H. Pryor, 56 Allen Street ; B. J. Maycoch, -^2) 
Allen Street ; A. M. Curtiss, 780 West Ferry Street ; 
Truman y. Martin, 279 North Street. 

Surgeons. — Roswell Park, 510 Delaware Avenue ; 
John Parmenter, 519 Franklin Street ; Herman Mynter; 
566 Delaware Avenue ; W. C. Phelps, 148 Allen Street; 
W. W. Potter, 284 Franklin Street ; Eugene A. Smith, 
1018 Main Street. 

Nervous Diseases. — James W. Putnam, 525 Dela- 
ware Avenue ; W. C. Krauss, 371 Delaware Avenue. 

Children's Diseases. — Dr. W. H. H. Sherman, 666 
Main Street ; Irving M. Snow, 476 Franklin Street. 

Skin Diseases. — Ernest Wende, 471 Delaware 
Avenue ; Grover W. Wende, 471 Delaware Avenue. 

Women's Diseases. — M. D. Mann, yj Allen Street ; 
P. W. Van Peyma, 445 William Street ; M. A. Crockett, 
452 Franklin Street ; G. R. Stearns, 201 Linwood 
Avenue ; Jessie Shepard, 21 Irving Place. 

Eyes and Ears. — Lucien Howe, 183 Delaware 
Avenue; H. Y. Grant, 399 Delaware Avenue : Elmer E. 
Starr, 523 Delaware Avenue ; F. W. Hinkel, 412 Frank- 
335 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

lin Street; A. A. Hubbell, 212 Franklin Street; F. 
Park Lewis, 454 Franklin Street. 

Nose and Throat.— F. W. Abbott, 523 Franklin 
Street ; W. S. Renner, 361 Pearl Street ; Max Keiser, 
388 Franklin Street ; F . Park Lewis, 454 Franklin 
Street. 

Dentists.— W. C. Barrett, 208 Franklin Street ; M. B. 

Straig-ht, 80 W. Huron Street ; F. E. Howard, 331 

Franklin Street ; C. E. Wettlaufer, 157 North Pearl 

Street. 

Drives. 

The stereotyped drive in Buffalo, is " around the 
Front and to the Park," a drive of a couple of hours. 
Now that the Park Lake is included, for the summer, 
in the Exposition Grounds, this portion of the drive will 
be deprived of much of its beauty, yet the Park Meadow 
is very attractive and restful. Delaware Avenue is one 
of the famous residence streets of the country. Lin- 
wood Avenue is also an attractive street, and North 
Street, Summer Street, Ferry Street, etc., all have beau- 
tiful residences and lawns. 

A drive to Humboldt Park will show the more thickly 
settled portion of the city, largely German. The Wad- 
ing- Pond is worth Seeing, on afternoons or school 
holidays. 

Those who wish longer drives, and who have the 
courage to pierce the belt of railroads which surround 
the city, and the monotonous territory of the immediate 
suburbs, may try the river road to Tonawanda (distant 
about ten miles) ; may take the ferry to Fort Erie at 
the foot of Ferry Street and drive to Niagara Falls along 
the Canadian shore of the Niagara River, or such por- 
336 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

tion of this twenty-mile distance as they may elect ; 
or may drive through Cazenovia or South Park, and 
to Athol Springs (distant about eleven miles), and on 
along the lake shore as much farther as they may 
desire. All the most beautiful portion of the drive is 
after passing Athol Springs. 

Bicycle Trips. 

There are many beautiful bicycle trips about Buffalo 
for those who take rides of thirty to forty miles, or by 
taking a train one way the distance can often be halved. 
Recourse should be had to the bicycle stores and book 
stores for books descriptive of different trips and routes. 
The favorite century run is from Erie to Buffalo, along 
the shore of Lake Erie, with excellent roads all the way, 
and of course this may be taken from any intermediate 
point. By taking the Lake Shore or the Pennsylvania 
train to Silver Creek, one may have a ride of forty-five 
miles back to Buffalo, usually with the wind, the greater 
part being along the shore of Lake Erie. A delightful 
ride often miles may be had by taking the same trains 
to Lake View, riding back along the lake to Athol 
Springs, and taking a return train there on either road. 
A beautiful trip is to take the Erie Railroad train to 
Hamburgh, ride seven or eight miles along the precipi- 
tous banks of Eighteen-mile Creek to North Evans, nine 
miles along the shore of Lake Erie to Athol Springs, 
and then take the train or ride back the eleven miles to 
Buffalo. 

The trip to Tonawanda (ten miles distant) is a very 
favorite one, there being asphalt or brick pavement all 
the way. The same trip along the tow-path of the Erie 
22 337 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

canal is very much more beautiful, though not so good 
riding. The ride to Niagara Falls along the Canadian 
bank of the Niagara River (take boat to Canada at foot, 
of Ferry Street) is magnificent, but the road is only fair, 
and sometimes hardly that. The trip from Niagara 
Falls on down the river to Lake Ontario is very beauti- 
ful, and is best on the American side. An interesting, 
though uneven, trip is to ride from Port Colborne on 
Lake Erie to Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario, twenty-five 
miles, along the Welland Canal. Customs entries may 
be required in passing into Canada save at Niagara 
Falls, where there is usually no hindrance or trouble. 
Bicyclers at Niagara Falls should not fail to ride to and 
around the Dufferin Islands. 

No bicycle rider should fail, while in Buffalo, to ride 
up Delaware Avenue from the Terrace to Ferry Street, 
and to ride down North Street to the Front. The streets 
are much more beautiful seen in this way than in driv- 
ing behind horses. 

Bicycle riders in Buffalo are obliged to carry bells, 
but are not obliged to carry lamps. 

Trips by Boat. 

Those who desire a trip on Lake Erie will find vari- 
ous Excursions advertised in the daily papers, the boats 
usually leaving from the docks at the foot of Main Street. 
For an excursion on the lake, the trip to Port Colborne 
is as good as any, and Port Colborne itself is interesting 
as one terminus of the Welland Canal, from Lake Erie 
to Lake Ontario. A shorter ride is to Crystal Beach, a 
miniature Coney Island, on the Canadian shore of Lake 
Erie. An all-day's trip maybe had by taking a boat 
338 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

for Erie. None of these boats are of very high grade, 
but all are entirely seaworthy. 

The trips down the Niagara River are also interest- 
ing. The trip by boat down the river to Niagara Falls 
is decidedly worth taking. 

The trip up the Great Lakes from Buffalo is an inter- 
esting and delightful one. The best boats to take are the 
" Northwest " and " North Land," which are both beau- 
tiful vessels, magnificently finished and furnished, and 
with an excellent cuisine. The boats of the Erie & 
Western Transportation Company (Lake Anchor Line) 
are good, though not new, and with a much simpler 

table. 

Boating. 

There is very little boating in Buffalo. The Buffalo 
Yacht Club, at the foot of Porter Avenue, " The Front," 
has a three-story building, with dock and pier. It has 
a membership of something over 200, with annual dues 
of $15.00. 

Boats may be chartered at the foot of Ferry Street, 
reached by the electric cars or the Belt Line trains. 

Street Cars. 

There is a complete system of "transfers" in Buf- 
falo, and visitors changing from one street car line to 
another may obtain free transfer tickets from the con- 
ductor. 

THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 

The name Pan-American, of course, means all 
American, and the Exposition is therefore one of all 
America ; or, as it is sometimes put, of the three 

339 




PLAN OF THE PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 



A FEW PAGE8 ABOUT BUFFALO. 

Americas — North, Central, and South. The Exposition 
is intended to illustrate and to celebrate the achieve- 
ments of the Western Hemisphere during the nineteenth 
century, and no exhibits have been admitted except from 
the Western Hemisphere and the outlying dependencies 
of the United States in the Sandwich Islands, Samoa, 
the Philippines, and Guam. This restriction is confined 
to the Exposition buildings; the amusements and exhibits 
on the Midway come from all quarters of the globe. 

The Pan-American Exposition is a monument to the 
public spirit, the liberality, and the good taste of the 
citizens of Buffalo. The idea was first formally pre- 
sented to the public at a dinner held at the Hotel 
Iroquois, January 21, 1899, and the response was cor- 
dial and immediate. $427,000 was subscribed at the 
dinner, the newspapers all took up the movement 
with enthusiasm, and within six days, and almost 
before any organized canvassing could be got under way, 
over a million dollars ($1,114,000) of stock had been 
subscribed for by over ten thousand different people, 
in amounts ranging from $10 to $25,000 ; and at this 
writing over eighty-eight per cent of the amount so sub- 
scribed has been collected, and seven per cent, more is 
considered collectable. The total stock subscription 
reached $1,731,520, from nearly twelve thousand sub- 
scribers. In March, 1899, the State of New York gave 
to the Exposition its special sanction, and voted an ap- 
propriation of $300,000 ; and in the same month it was 
jndorsed by the United States Congress, and an appro- 
priation of $500,000 voted. The invitations to partici- 
pate sent to the other countries of the hemisphere have 
been from the National Government, through the De- 
341 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

partment of State. Mr. J. J. Albright, a public-spirited 
citizen of Buffalo, contributed $400,000 for a permanent 
marble art gallery, to stand upon the grounds of the - 
Exposition, and the Buffalo Historical Society contrib- 
uted $45,000, under an arrangement by which the New 
York State Building at the Exposition was to be per- 
manent, and to become the home of the Historical 
Society at the close of the Exposition. A bond issue 
of $2,500,000 was authorized, and promptly taken up by 
banks and capitalists. The total cost of preparing the 
Exposition, including the Midway — which surpasses in 
quality and scope anything of the kind yet seen in this 
country — exceeds ten million dollars. 

The Exposition has been most fortunate in its choice 
of a director-general — the Hon. William I. Buchanan. 
Mr. Buchanan has had ample previous experience in 
expositions, beginning with the World's Fair, at 
Chicago, and has since been the Minister of the United 
States to the Argentine Republic, resigning this posi- 
tion to assume the direction of the Pan-American Ex- 
position. It is probable that no other citizen of the 
United States has so wide an official acquaintance in 
South America or is more highly respected. He has 
great executive ability, an enormous capacity for detail, 
and is an untiring worker. He is a man of broad cul- 
ture and of quick and keen judgment. 

The Board of Directors of the Exposition consists of 
twenty-five men, representative of the best elements of 
the city. It was this body which had the difficult task 
of mapping out the scheme of the Exposition, selecting 
the site, the architects, etc. The architects were not 
chosen by any competitive process, but were selected 
342 



A FEW PAGES ABOUT BUFFALO. 

by the Board of Directors, and are as follows : Carrdre 
& Hastings, New York ; Howard, Cauldwell & Morgan, 
New York ; Babb, Cook & Willard, New York ; Pea- 
body & Stearns, Boston ; Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, 
Boston ; Green & Wicks, Buffalo ; George Gary, 
Buffalo ; Esenwein & Johnson, Buffalo. The Director 
of Works is Newcomb Garlton, of Buffalo ; Director of 
Color, C. Y. Turner, of New York ; Director of Sculp- 
ture, Karl Bitter, of New York ; the Landscape Archi- 
tect is Rudolf Ulrich, and the Chief of the Electrical 
Department, Henry Rustin, with Luther Stieringer as 
Consulting Expert. 

The visitor must not expect buildings of the height 
or size of those at Chicago. The whole style of archi- 
tecture and the whole scheme of the Exposition are 
an utter change from the Chicago type. To compare 
this Exposition with the one at Chicago is like trying 
to compare Cervantes and Aristotle. The buildings 
are low, with red-tiled roofs ; are brilliant with color, 
are rich with ornament, with domes and towers and 
turrets, with balconies and loggias, and, above all, 
with pergolas, or arbors, covered with thickly growing 
vines. These vine-covered arbors are so numerous as 
to form a distinctive feature of the Exposition, which 
is rich in all phases of landscape work. 

The grounds of the Exposition are not as large as at 
Chicago. They are, however, a mile long and half a 
mile wide, covering 350 acres, which is quite enough 
territory for people to cover. They include the beauti- 
ful Park Lake of the City of Buffalo, which D. H. Burn- 
ham, of Chicago, has called the most beautiful artificial 
or park lake of which he knows. 
343 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

Some of the chief points on which this Exposition 
prides itself, and which are therefore especially worthy 
of mention, are as follows. It is claimed that in the 
points mentioned this Exposition surpasses any that 
has been held : 

Electrical Effects. — The electrical features are said to 
exceed in variety, in novelty, and in quantity, those 
of all other expositions. The unlimited forces of 
Niagara Falls supply the motive power. No arc 
lights are used, except inside the buildings ; but the 
small incandescent lights, which it was at first 
promised should exceed 200,000, it is now stated, 
are over 500,000 in number. The Electrical Tower 
is the crowning feature of the Exposition. 

Sculpture. — More groups of sculpture, and more of 
original sculpture (all by artists of this hemisphere) 
than at any previous exposition. 

Fountains and Canals. — The electrical fountain in the 
North Bay, the Fall, seventy feet high, in front of 
the Electric Tower ; the Fountain of Abundance, 
the Fountains of Man, of Prometheus, of Lycur- 
gus, the Fountains of Nature, of Ceres, of Kronas, 
the Courts of Lilies and of Cypresses, the cascades 
at either end of the Triumphal Bridge ; the Park 
Lake, the Mirror Lakes, the Canal (a mile long, and 
bordered in its entire length by a walk shaded by 
a double row of poplars) which winds among the 
buildings — all these offer enchanting water effects. 

Flowers and Vines. — The landscape work is rather of 
the Italian order, with sunken gardens, terraces, 
flowers, vines, shrubs, and carefully arranged 

344 



A FEW PAGE8 ABOUT BUFFALO. 

groups of trees. Hundreds of thousands of spring 
bulbs — five tons of crocuses, tulips, hyacinths, etc. 
— have been set out, and roses and other flowers 
will follow in their season in almost equal profusion. 

Color Effects. — The work of coloring, or rather of 
illuminating in color, for this better describes the 
^ method followed, such a mass of buildings, with 
such intricacy of ornament and of detail, is a stu- 
pendous one. At this writing the work is not so 
complete that it can be fairly judged, and it can 
only be said that it is being done very boldly, and 
with great capability and taste. Such lavish use 
of color is something new in architecture, and is 
an original and striking feature of this Exposition, 
which has already given to it the name of the Rain- 
bow City. 

The Grand Courts. — The view points, or "Courts of 
Honor" of this Exposition, are well planned and 
surprisingly extensive. It is claimed that the Es- 
planade will hold 250,000 people, and opening out 
of this is the Court of Fountains, and beyond that 
the Plaza. 

The Stadium. — A noble building, the arena for sports 
and athletic contests, with seating capacity for 
12,000 persons. A delightful innovation. 

The Midway. — This Exposition has given the " Mid- 
way " an important position, close to the main 
buildings, though without allowing any portion to 
interfere with the architectural effects of the Expo- 
sition proper. The high grade of almost all of the 
Midway attractions is something surprising, and 
they form an instructive as well as an amusing 
345 



THE NIAGARA BOOK. 

feature. The broad avenue winding through the 
Midway is nearly three-quarters of a mile in length. 

It will be seen from this review that the Pan-Ameri- 
can Exposition is really noteworthy in the originality of 
many of its features. The Art Gallery offers still another 
excellent feature in that all the work exhibited, which is 
of course wholly from American, or Pan-American, 
artists, must be original, no copies being admitted. 
For the first time a separate building is devoted to the 
Graphic Arts and never before have Ethnology and 
Music been given such commanding and conspicuously 
central structures. 

The different exhibit buildings are so small com- 
paratively that the exhibits have had to be much re- 
stricted, only a small portion of those offered being 
accepted. The choice seems to have been made, how- 
ever, with great care and with great impartiality, with 
especial attention everywhere to exhibits which tell 
their story in a striking and graphic manner. 

It is neither possible nor desirable to furnish here 
any detailed description of, or guide to, the Exposition. 
We have told something of its history, its purpose, and 
its execution. We consider it noteworthy among ex- 
positions for its originality and excellence, and it 
reflects great credit upon the capacity and culture of 
those who have created it, and upon the city which has 
given it birth. 



346 



INDEX. 



Abbott, Francis, the "Her- 
mit," 6i 
Adam's Diary, 215 
Allen, Sadie, barrel trips of, 68 
American Fall, 15. 32. etc. 
Animals at Niagara, 173-176 _ 
Anti-Masonic Agitation (1826), 

113 
" Ararat," 112 
As It Rushes by, 270 
Avery on the Log, 76 

Bath Island, 31 
Balleni and the tight-rope, 7,4 
Barrels used to go through rap- 
ids, 66, 67 
Bicycles, 26, 43, 50 

May be rented by the day at 
Niagara Falls 
Bicycle, Water-, 86 
Biddle stairs, 81 
Birds at Niagara, 174-176 

Robin, 174 

Oriole, 174 

Blue-bird, 174 

Gold-finch, 174 

Wilson's Thrush, 17S 

Wood-thrush, 175 

Cat-bird, 175 , 

Crows, 17s 

Gulls, 175 

Cedar-birds, 175 

Bald-headed Eagle, 175 

Indigo-bird, 176 

Scarlet Tanager, 176 

King-fisher, 176 
Black Rock(i8i2), 108 

Burned (r^J'i), 109 
Blondin and the tight-rope, 72 

Mr. Howells describes, 255 
Boundary Line between U. S 

and Canada, no 
" Bowser ' and his boat, 71 



British Campaign of 1759, 102 
Brock, General {1812), 107 
Brock's Monument, 42, 49, 57, 

108 
Brides and Grooms at Niagara, 

27s 
Buffalo, 317-339 

Architectural features, 321 

Asphalt, 50 

Bicycle trips, 319, 337 

Boat trips, 337 

Boating, 338 

Burned 1813, 109 

Commerce, 318, 320 

Coal, 318, 320 

Churches, 321 

Cemetery, 326 

Crematory, 327 

Clubs, 328 

President Cleveland, 330 

Delaware Avenue, 336, 338 

Doctors, 334 

Drives, 334 

Erie Canal, 320 

Fresh Air Mission, 329 

Fire tugs, 330 

President Fillmore, 330 

Grain elevators, 320 

Harbor and river, 319 

Hotels, 332 

Libraries, 324 

Manuscripts in library, 324 

Market, 326 

Mr. Howells visits, 238 

Newspapers, 333 

One day in Buffalo, 317 

Pan - American Exposition 

339-346 
River and Harbor, 319 
Red Jacket monument, 327 
Statistics, 318 
Shopping guide, 333 
I Street-cars, 339 

347 



INDEX. 



Buffalo, 232 

Theatres, 332 

Views, 319, 332 

Wading-pond, 326, 336 ■ 
Burning of the Caroline, 62, 115 
Burning Spring, 27, 250 
Burnt Ship Bay, 103 

Cables to transmit power, 190 
Cain, where raised, 226 

unimproved, 234 
Calcareous soil, 163 
Calverley and his wire cable, 76 
Campbell's voyage in life-pre- 
server, 70 
Canal, Hydraulic Power, 180 
Caroline, burning of the, 62, 115 
Cataract Construction Co., 184 
Cave of the Winds 

Description, 4 

Dimensions, 7 

Safety, 10 

Cost, 6, 57 

Discovery of, 62 

Wedding near the, 86 

Doring's Band in, 89 

Geology of, 143 
Cayuga Creek, 100 
Cessions and treaties, 105 
Champlain, 91 
Charlevoix (1721), 95 
"Chestnut," the forbidden fruit, 
225 

The original, 225 
Chippewa, Battle of (1814), 109 
Clinton Age, 145 
Coleridge, 24 

Commercial History of N. F., 116 
Coronelli's Map (1688), 94 
Crandall, Bryant B., supposed 

suicide of, 88 
Cruciferae, Spring-flowering, 170 

Death on the Ice-mountain, 79 
Declaration of Independence, 106 
De Nonville, Marquis (1687), loi 
Detroit, trip of the, 80 
Devil's Hole, 48 
Devil's Hole Massacre, 104 
Dixon and the wire cable, 75 
Disappearance of Wm. Morgan, 
113 



Doring's Band in Cave of the 

Winds, 89 
Dramatic Incidents, 59 
Dufferin Islands, 25 
Dynamos, 190 

ECHOTA, The town of, 205 
Eden, Garden of, identical with 

Niagara, 215 
Electric Generators, 190 
England acquires Niagara (1763), 

105 
Erie Canal completed (1825), 112 
Erosion, 149, 161 
Eve, 216 
Excavation of the Gorge, 150, 

160, 163 

Famous visitors at Niagara 
Falls, 278 
Father Hennepin, 278 
La Salle, 278 
Tonti, 281 
Hontan, 281 
Tom Moore, 281 
Mrs. Jameson, 285 
Margaret Fuller, 288 
Sir Joseph Hooker, 291 
Harriet Martineau, 291 
Charles Dickens, 292 
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 295 
Charles Kingsley, 301 
Dean Stanley, 301 
Professor Tyndall, 301 
N. P. Willis, 303 
Mrs. Trollope, 303 
Charles Dudley Warner, 304 
Professor Richard Proctor, 

304 

Anthony Trollope, 305 

Bayard Taylor, 308 

Mrs. Sigourney, 311 

Lord Morpeth, 312 
Fauna of Niagara Falls, 158 

Quadrupeds, 174 

Birds, 174, 175, 176 
Farini, on the tight-rope, 73 

on stilts, 89 
Fenian War (1866), 116 
Ferns, 172, 173 

Ostrich fern, 172 

Sensitive fern, 173 



348 



INDEX. 



Ferns, Royal fern, 173 

Interrupted fern, 173 

Cinnamon fern, 173 

Bladder fern, 173 

Shield fern, 173 

Christmas fern, 173 

Beech fern, 173 

Walking fern, 173 

Spleen-wort fern, 173 

Cliff-brake fern, 173 

Common-brake fern, 173 

Maiden-hair fern, 173 

Polypody fern, 173 
Ferryboat service, old, 84 
First railroad in America, 102 
Flora and Fauna of Niagara 

Falls, 158 
Flora, vast abundance of, 165 

Trees, 165, 166, 167, 168 

Flowers, 169, 170, 171, 172 

Ferns, 172, 173 
Flack's death, 69 
Flowers, 169, 170, 171, 172 

Liver-worts, squirrel cups, 
169 

Meadow Rue, 169 

Wild Columbine, 169 

May Apple, 169 

Blood-root, 170 

Squirrel-corn, 170 

Dutchman's breeches, 170 

Crinkle root, 170 

Spring cress, 170 

Rock cress, 170 

Violets (four), 17c 

Spring-beauty, 170 

Crane's bill, 170 

Virginian saxifrage, 170 

Mitre-worts (two), 170 

Spreading phlox, 171 

Greek valerian, 171 

Dog-tooth, 171 

Adder's tongue, 171 

Bell-wort, 171 

Indian turnip, 171 

Trilliums (two), 171 

St. John's wort, 171 

Grass of Parnassus, 171 

Painted-cup, 171 

Lilies, 171 

Orchids, 171 

Hare-bell, 172 



Flowers, golden-rods, 172 
Sun-flowers, 172 
Star-flowers, 172 
Downey thistle, 172 
Shorn gentian, 172 
Bluets or innocence, 172 
Liatris cylindracea, 172 
Apocynum androsasmifoli- 

um, 172 
Milkweed, 172 
Fire-lily, 172 
Lady's slipper, 172 
Morning glory, 172 
Wild roses, 172 
Fort du Portage, or Little Ni- 
agara, 102 
Fort Erie, captured by Ameri- 
cans (1814), 109 
Fort George, capture of, 1S13, 

108 
Fort Niagara, 43, 100, loi, 102, 

106 
Fort Schlosser (1813), 109 
France cedes Canada to Eng- 
land, 105 
French occupation of Niagara, 
99 

Geology of Niagara Falls, 123 
Generators, electric, 190 
Glacial period, 136 
Goat Island, 31 

Why so named, 83 

Origin, 162 
Gorge, Niagara, 38 

Early crossings of, 84 

A true caiion, 132 

Excavation of, 150, 160, 163 
Gorge Road, 38, 58 
Graham and his barrel, 66 
Grand Island, 50. 103, 112 
Great Lakes, The 

Geology of, 136, 138, 139, 140 
"Griffon," first boat on the 
Lakes, loi 

Hazlett and his barrel, 67, 68 
Hennepin, Father 

Descriptions of Niagara by, 
3°- 93, 94. 278 
" Hermit of Niagara," 61 



349 



INDEX. 



" Hero of the whirlpool rapids," 

66 
Herbs, flower producing, 169 
Historic Niagara, 90 
Holm's, Campanius, '' New Swe- 
den " (1702), 94 
Horseback, crossing ice-bridge 

on, 86 
Horse-power, now utilized, 202 

to be available, 211 
Horseshoe Falls, 16, 21, 32 
Howells, William Dean 

First visits to Niagara, 239 
Last visits to Niagara, 263 
Describes Blondin, 255 
Hydraulic Power Canal, 180 

Ice-bridge, 45 

Sudden movement of, 85 
Crossing, on horseback, 86 
Crossing, in automobile, 87 
Mr. Howells describes, 266 

Ice-palace, 85 

Illumination by search-light, 83 

Incidents, Dramatic, 59 
Famous, 112 

Incident, a sad, 77 

Indians, knowledge of Niagara, 

91 

At Niagara, 104 

Indian Lore, 119 

Ingersoll, Col. Robt. G , at Niag- 
ara, 271 

Inspiration Point, 20 

Isle de Marine, 103 

Jenkins and his velocipede, 74 
Johnson, SirWm., British Gen- 
eral, 102 
Joncaire burns Ft. Little Niag- 
ara, 102 

Kangaroo7-um Adamiensis, 229 
Kendall swims the rapids, 67 

L'Allement, Jesuit Father 

(1641), 92 
La Honton's, " Voyages " (1703), 

94 
La Salle, 30, 100, 278 
Land Titles to Niagara, iii 
Le Clercq, Father (1691), 94 



Leslie, "The American Blon- 
din," 88 
Lewiston, 41, 48, 100 

Named for Governor Lewis, 

107 
Burned (1813), 109 
Original site of Falls, 161 
Lewiston Bridge, destroyed, 81 
Limestone formation, 145, 146 
Little P'alls, early outlet of Great 

Lakes, 139, 146 
Local History of Niagara, 120 
Luna Island, 31, 32 
I>unar Rainbow, 33 
Lundy's Lane, battle of (1814), 
109 

McNab, Sir Allen (1837), 115 
Maid of the Mist, 13 
' Story of Original, 64 

. " Dummy," 78 

Indian Legend of, 119 
Manchester (burned 1813), 109 
Medina formations, 145, 148 
Mills at Niagara, 180 
Michigan, The Pirate, 60 
Modern History of Niagara, 97 
Mollusca, 162 

" Morgan's Dungeon" (1826), 113 
Morgan, William, disappearance 

of, 113 
Music of Niagara, 23 

Navy Island, 103 

Newark, Capture of, 1813, 108 

Niagara 

Why so named, 53, 215 

Historic, 90 

Early mentions of, 91 

Indians ai, 91 

Modern History of, 97 

Ownership of, 98 

French occupation of, 99 

Why Brides and Grooms 
visit, 275 

The great Lesson of, 275 

Poetry of, 310 
'■ Niagara." the name, 95, 96 
Niagara, first and last, 236 
Niagara Falls 

Unconquered by man, 77 

Geology of, 123 



350 



INDEX. 



Niagara Falls 

Eventual fate of, 156 

P lora and Fauna of, 158 

Power of, 178 

Mr. Howell's first visits, 239 

Mr. Howell's last visits, 263 

Famous visitors at, 278 

Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power 
& Mfg. Co., 180 

Niagara Falls Power Co. , 184 

Niagara limestone, 145 

Niagara shale, 145 

Niagara River 

When it ran dry, 53 
Is in fact a strait, 131 
A new-made stream, 133 
First existence of, 140 
Earlier courses of, 141 

Nissen and his boat, 71 

Noah, Maj. M. M., Jewish lead- 
er (1824), 112 

"Ongiara,"93 
'' Onguiaarha," 92 
Ontario, Lake, 42, 43, 49 
Ownership of Niagara, 98 

Pan-American Exposition, 339- 
346 

Architects, 343 

Area, 343 

Art gallery, 346 

Color effects, 343, 345 

Director-General, 342 

Electrical effects, 344 

Ethnology, 346 

Finances, 341 

Flowers and vines, 344 

Fountains, 344 

Graphic Arts, 346 

Inception, 341 

Meaning of name, 339 

Midway, 345 

Music, 346 

Officials, 343 

Purpose, 341 

Statistics, 341 

Sculpture, 344 

Stadium, 345 
Parliament of Upper Canada 
(1792), 108 



Patch, Sam, and his high jump, 

60 
Patriot War (1837), 114 
Peere and the wire cable, 75 
Percy's trip through the rapids, 

69 
Penstocks, 191 
Petrified Leaves, 49 
Poetry of Niagara, 310 
Portage Road, loi 
Porter, Augustus, 180 
Porter, General Peter B. (1814), 

no 
Potts and his barrel, 67 
Power of Niagara Falls, 178, 179, 

202, 203 
Power-house, 188 
Prideaux, General (1759), 102 
Prince of Wales (i86o), 107 
Programmes for one day, 52 
Prospect Park, 29, 14 

Quadrupeds, 174 
Queenston, 41, 49 

Original site of the Falls, 150 
Queenston Heights, 107 
Queen Victoria' Park, 18, 78 

Ragueneau, Jesuit Father 

(1648), 92 
Rainbows, 19 

Lunar, 33 

Mr. Howells describes, 243 
Rapids, Upper, 28 

Whirlpool, 39 
Recession of Falls, 55, 149, 154 

Surveys to determine, 151 
Rescues, 79, 82, 87 

of two dogs, 80 
Revolutionary War, 106 
Robinson, Joel, 64, 120 
Rock of Ages, 15 
Romantic Marriages, 86 

Sanson's Map, 92 
Schlosser, Captain Joseph, 103 
Schlosser landing, 115 
Searchlight illumination, 83 
Shale formations, 145 
Smyth, General Alexander, 1812, 
108 



351 



INDEX. 



Soil, fertility of the, 163 
Soule's attempt to swim rapids, 

71 
Spelterina walks tight-rope, 74 
Spring, The, 36 
State Reservation, 78, 118 
Statistics, 53 
Stilts, Farini on, 89 
Stone Chimney, relic of British 

fort, 103 
St. Lawrence, Vale of the, 135 
Suicide (?) of Crandall, 88 
Sunday, a day to rest from, 218 
Sundays, should be more, 227 
Superfluous, a good word, 218 
Surreys of the Falls, 151 
Suspension Bridge, destroyed, 81 

Table Rock, 20 

Fall of, 63 

Mr. Howells tells about, 248 
Terrapin Tower, 81, 251 
Thayer, E. M., Music of Niag- 
ara, 23 
Three Sister Islands, 34 
" Three Mountains," 100, loi 
" Thunder of the Waters," 96 
Tight-rope exploits 

Blondin, 72 

Signor Farini, 73 

Signor Balleni, 74 

Maria Spelterina, 74 

Steve Peere, 75 

Samuel John Dixon, 75 

Clifford M. Calverley, 76 

J. E. De Leon, 87 

Harry Leslie, 88 
Tonawanda, 223 
Toronto, 43 

Tramway up ''Three Moun- 
tains," lOI 
Treaty of 1763, 105 

of Paris, 106 

of Ghent, no 
Trees, 165, 166, 167, 168 

Cucumber, 165 

Tulip, 165 

Maples (four), 165 

Sumach (five), 166 

Plum, 166 

Cherry (two), 166 

Crab-apple, 166 



Trees; Thorn (three), 166 

Cornel (six), 166 

Viburnums (six), 166 

Sassafras, 167 

Native Laurel, 167 

Ash (two), 167 

Linden or Bass-wood, 167 

Butternut, 167 

Hickory (four), 167 

Beech, 167 

Chestnut, 167 

Oak (nine), 167 

Elm (two), 168 

Birch (three), 168 

Alder, 168 

Willows (six), 168 

Poplars (four), 168 

White Cedar, 168 

Red Cedar, 168 

Juniper, 168 

American Yew or Ground 
Hemlock, 168 

White Pine, 168 

Hemlock-Spruce, 168 
Tunnel, power, 185 

United States and Canada, 

no 
Utilization of Niagara's power, 
178 

Evershed's plans for, 182 
Organization of Companies 
for, 184 

Van Rensselaer, Gen, (1812), 

107 
Visitors, Famous, at Niagara 
Falls, 278 

See " Famous Visitors at N. 
F. " in Index 

Walks, 48 

War of 1812, 106 

Waterfalls 

How formed, 124 

of Yosemite Valley, 126 

of Lauterbrunnen, 126 

of the Ohio at Louisville, 127 

of Island of Anticosta, 127 

of Trenton, 128 

of Niagara, 128, etc. 



352 



INDEX. 



We, a new word, 215 
Webb and his fatal swim, 65 
What to See, 3 
When Niagara ran dry, 63 
Whirlpool, 40, 49 

Mr. Howells's visits, 253 
Whirlpool Rapids, The, 39 

Swimming through, 65, 67, 
71 



Whirlpool rapids, through, in 
Barrels, 66, 67, 68 
Through, in boats, 68, 69, 70, 

71 
Willow Island, 36, 25, 50 
Winter, 44 

YOUNGSTOWN, 43 

Burned {1813), 109 



353 



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